A World Without You
by MiniWitchling123
Summary: Before The Assassin's Blade, Celaena Sardothian had to grow up in the Assassin's Keep. Dorian had to grow up with his duties. Chaol had to train to be Captain of the Royal Guard. Follow their stories as they are all forced to grow up.
1. Chapter 1

A world without you

Aelin sat on her bed, waiting. She had no idea what or who for, but she was waiting.

Staring down at herself, she sighed. She wasn't a huge fan of formal dinners. People usually came up to her, bowed and moved on to her parents. No one ever paid much attention to her except her parents. Oh, and Aedion.

Aedion. He was her cousin and best friend in court as him being there with her usually made formal dinners much more enjoyable. After all, formal dinners weren't the place for magic wielding eight year olds.

Her door creaked open to reveal her cousin. His blond hair poked through the doorway first and a large smile spread out over his face.

"You look nice," he said, smiling. Aelin glanced down at her flowing blue dress. Her parents had told her to wear it. Something about how Adarlan's colour was blue and it was important to please the future King.

"What do you want?" She sighed dramatically, sticking out her tongue at her cousin. Laughing, he threw a pillow from her bed at her.

"That's not a very queen-like way to behave." He said, before getting a pillow thrown squarely in his face.

Aelin laughed at her cousin's feather filled blond hair as her parents walked through the door.

"Aelin!"her mother exclaimed. "What have you done to poor Aedion?"

"Oh. That." Aelin started. "Well, he. I-"

"Alright Fireheart, calm down." Her dad said smiling before picking up his little princess.

"Are you hurt Aedion?" Aelin asked as she hugged her dad.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Aedion said, picking himself up and ruffling his hair. Feathers rained down around him.

"It's time," Aelin's dad said, putting her down and straightening her dress.

Aelin followed her parents down the staircase with Aedion by her side. She looked up and noticed that he still had a feather in his hair. She ignored it as payback for him throwing a pillow at her. She smiled as she stood next to her parents as different ambassadors came from all over the continent and introduced themselves to her before ignoring her for the rest of the evening. She and Aedion ended up eating with two other guys. Both seemed just as bored as she was, thank the gods. One was sat casually, eating large amounts of the roast boar stew. He seemed slightly older than her and normal enough. He ripped off a large chunk of bread before piling more roast boar stew on his plate.

The other guy was slightly younger than the first. Unlike the first, this boy had a golden crown balanced on his head and he ate carefully with a royal grace Aelin had never yet encountered. His table manners were over the top. He even ate his bread with a knife and fork. Who in Erilea does that?

"You eat like a fine lady," Aelin blurted out before she could stop herself.

The black haired boy looked up from his bread, swallowed and then said "Pardon?"

"You eat like a fine lady," Aelin repeated. Aedion was staring at her and he kicked her shin under the table. She kicked him back. Harder.

The boy's friend turned casually towards her, his face noticing all her movements. She smiled sweetly, relishing the look of irritation on his face.

"You don't need to cut your bread," Aelin said quietly. "Just eat it."

"Leave him alone," the black haired boy's friend said, his eyes narrowing.

"Leave her alone," Aedion said, leaning forwards. The black haired boy's friend looked him up and down, his eyes resting on the feathers in Aedion's hair. A smile slowly spread over his face.

"Dorian may eat like a fine lady," Dorian's friend said, "but at least he doesn't have feathers in his hair." Aedion ruffled his hair quickly and glared at Aelin. Aelin was staring at her plate, her eyes remaining down.

Dorian cleared his throat as the main course plate were finally moved away and were replaced by a large slab of chocolate cake. "Calm down Chaol," he said, lifting his forkful of cake.

Chaol looked Aedion up and down before picking up his fork. His attention switched to the young princess who had eaten at least half of her cake already.

"Maybe you should try eating like a fine lady," Chaol said through a mouthful of cake.

Aelin swallowed before saying, "At least I have the courtesy to finish my mouthful before talking." She looked at Dorian and smiled. He too was wearing blue. It matched his sapphire eyes at least.

Later in the evening, pots of tea were left on the table. Dorian's friend had gone to talk to his father about becoming Lord of Anielle. Aedion had gone upstairs to have a shower. Aelin and Dorian sat at a table, cups of tea placed in front of them.

"I'm tired," Aelin said suddenly, standing up.

"Me too," said Dorian. He picked up his cup and saucer. "Can I take this with me?" Aelin shrugged.

Nodding to Chaol, Dorian followed Aelin out of the room. The cup of tea he held shook as he climbed the stairs behind her. He tripped on the stairs, throwing the cup and saucer out of his hands. A brown stain had formed on the bottom of Aelin's dress. Dorian gasped as she turned and noticed the stain. Her blue eyes narrowed and she said quietly.

"You have just ruined my dress Your Highness."

"I'm so sorry I-" Dorian tried.

"I don't care." Aelin said. "Get out of my sight before I get my cousin to beat you up."

Dorian bowed his head slightly and rushed past her to his room. He wished that Chaol had been with him. Chaol would have handled the situation better.

Aelin sat on her bed. Her pillow had been replaced and she smoothed out the ripples of blue silk around her. A large brown stain covered one area of the dress at the back.

Aelin sighed. She wished that she had thought about the situation. A tea stain isn't that bad. Hopefully tomorrow she could apologise to the Prince.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: I will try and update regularly (no promises). These characters and some plot points don't belong to me. They are all property of Sarah J. Maas. This chapter there will be separate points of view between Aelin, Dorian, Chaol and maybe some other characters. I hope you enjoy it! WARNING! Does contain spoilers!**

 **This is also not meant to be 100% accurate. It is a twist on the original plot, so don't hate for small details and different plots to the books**

Chapter 2

Aelin woke with a jolt. Breathing deeply, she looked around her dark room and sighed. It was all a nightmare. Smiling, she conjured up some fire to see her room better.

The fire didn't come.

Aelin sat in her bed, confused and scared about her power. It had left no warning, but it just vanished. As a scared little princess, Aelin ran to her parents' room, burst through the door and vomited almost instantly.

No one eight years old should ever have to see a corpse. No one eight years old should ever have to see their parents dead.

Yet lying in front of Aelin Galythinius were her parents, their blood covering the floor and bed. Their bodies lay on the floor as if they had been thrown there after the murder.

Aelin stepped forwards cautiously and felt her father's feathery hair. Blood ran onto her hand. Nearly vomiting, she turned to her mother. The queen's eyes were still open, the turquoise eyes ringed with gold lifeless without her smile. Her blonde hair fell behind her, blood clumping it together. Aelin closed her mother's eyes carefully, her tears falling silently as she touched her mother's hair gently.

Aelin stepped back towards the door, her hand reaching for the door handle. She felt herself retching again and turned to leave. Someone was blocking her way.

Marion.

"Aelin!" Marion cried, dropping to the floor. "Aelin go! You don't have much time. Run past the bridge and don't look back, understand?"

Aelin nodded, and then she stared at Marion. "What about you?"

"Don't worry about me." Marion said, and then she pushed Aelin towards the castle exit.

"Wait!" Aelin said. "I need to get Dad's amulet.

Aelin ran to her room and scooped up the Amulet of Orynth before so ran past Marion and straight out of the castle.

She saw a huge army in blue with gold armour and iron weapons marching towards the castle. She didn't stop running, even as her legs burned and her eyes blurred with tears. Aelin began to cry, and not just for her parents, but for her people. They would most likely end up dead or in Endovier or Calaculla. She uttered a prayer to every God she could name, and then repeated it, matching the rhythm of her words to her feet pounding on the ground as she ran for the bridge. She could feel the amulet pressing against her chest as she ran. The castle was flooded with blue figures, red tips on their iron weapons. Tears burnt her eyes. Quietly she whispered:  
"Please let Marion and Aedion be safe."

Dorian's POV

Dorian woke with a jolt. The candle next to him had long since burnt out. He sat up and checked out his window.

Adarlan soldiers were taking over, tearing the country apart. Their iron weapons were blood soaked and every Adarlan officer had a smile on his face.

Dorian vomited to the side of his bed.

Someone had given the order to invade Terrasen when they were sleeping. The green and silver flags on the castle were burning. The people were screaming, rushing around to try and escape the guards who had captured many people already. Anyone who resisted was killed instantly. Dorian saw a young woman with two children resist as a guard tried to take her children. They were forcibly ripped from her as she was pushed to a block that had been hastily created in the square in front of the castle. She was pushed down and the head guard, with a sadistic smile on his face, slowly pushed his blade into the back of her neck. Dorian couldn't see what was happening, but he heard a scream. Looking down, he could see blood running down the young woman's neck. The head guard smiled, removing his sword, before raising it for the final blow.

Her children had been forced to watch.

Dorian vomited again.

Two Adarlan guards burst through the door to Dorian's chamber with their swords drawn, looking around wildly. Their eyes rested on Dorian, and then they moved to the puddle of vomit next to his bed.

"Your Highness," the guards said, bowing. Dorian blushed as he realised how he looked. He was wearing a green undershirt and loose black trousers.

He, the Crown Prince of Adarlan was wearing green, the colour of Terrasen, the city that threatened Adarlan the most. Yet here it was, people on their knees, people being killed in the square and people being taken to the slave camps.

Dorian leaded over and vomited again.

Chaol's POV

Chaol was lost. He had walked through the castle when he was trying to decide his fate when he got lost. He walked around aimlessly, going up and down stairs randomly. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he had no idea which room he was in. He turned a handle and entered a room.

Chaol nearly vomited.

The sight of the mangled bodies of the King and Queen of Terrasen was enough to make anyone retch. Blood was smeared across the floor and footprints were left in it as Chaol stepped forwards to look at the bodies.

Glancing at the queen's eyes, he saw bloody finger marks on her eyelids. Someone must have closed her eyes.

Aelin.

Chaol had been to practically every room in this castle and he hadn't seen Aelin Galythinius. She must have left when she found her parents.

"How old is the princess?" Chaol thought. "Eight? Nine? Not old enough to have discovered her dead parents."

Chaol stood staring until he heard guards in the hallway behind him. Chaol awakened from his trancelike state and he rushed out of the door, retching as he left. He stumbled out the door and rushed up the stairs. He knew his way to Dorian's room from here.


	3. Chapter 3

A world without you chapter 3

 **Author's note: Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. Things got quite hectic here. Anyway, I'm still just including Aelin, Dorian and Chaol, however more characters will come into this later. Anyway, enjoy!**

Aelin

"Run. Don't look back. Just run," thought Aelin as she sprinted towards the bridge. Her feet ponded hard on the ground and her hair flew as she ran. The glow from the burning in Terrasen elongated her shadow. In front of her, she could just see the bridge crossing the river. It couldn't be more than 500 meters away.

Aelin forced herself to run forwards. She didn't look back towards the devastating scene that she had left behind.

She had 400 meters left.

300 meters.

200 meters.

To Aelin's horror, she then noticed more Adarlan troops marching in from the bridge side. They would see her instantly if she tried to cross. They would also find her if she stopped. Thinking of Marion and her parents, Aelin grimaced as she ran the last 200 meters and jumped onto the bridge.

She could see the reflection of the fires of Terrasen in the golden armour of the guards.

Horror struck her as she slowly turned to face her home.

The castle was burning brightly in background; black smoke rose from the burning village and the flood of Adarlan troops in the streets moved at an alarming rate towards the castle. Across the land, Aelin could clearly see a child, no older than her, was being forced towards a block in the centre of the square. He wriggled free from the guard holding him and ran. He wormed through the crowds as he dodged both guards and the fires. He was running for the river. He was preparing to jump in.

A guard grabbed him by the ear before he could dive into the river. Aelin watched, fear struck, as the young boy was dragged to the block in the centre square.

Aelin turned, but it didn't block out his screams of agony. She prayed to every God that the guards would have mercy on the rest of her people.

Aelin ran onto the middle of bridge when she saw the army advancing directly towards her. Startled, she turned and saw guards at the other end of the bridge. She was trapped.

"Get the Princess!" someone shouted, but Aelin barely heard him. She looked as though she were watching tennis; her head was changing direction constantly. She reached for the Amulet of Orynth and held it to her, praying to the Gods that she, and her people, would be safe.

A guard ran towards her, a pair of shackles in his hand. Aelin's eyes widened as she looked at them. His hand reached towards hers. Aelin pulled her hand back, and, as she did, an idea popped into her head.

The guard staggered back, the shackles had be left to fall into the river. He was clutching his nose as blood dripped onto his tunic and armour. His blood had mixed with the blood of the King and Queen of Terrasen on Aelin's hands. She grinned at the blood dripping down his face. It was a small way to repay him for what he did to her kingdom and family, but it was a start.

The other guards grabbed her from behind. She fought against the cold hands she felt pressed on her wrists, arms, and even her ankles. Feeling someone try and put shackles on her ankles, she drew back her foot and kicked. Hard.

The force in which the guards threw themselves at her was enough to violently rock the bridge. Several guards nearly fell into the river before they were saved by their colleagues.

Aelin remained standing. She had great posture due to her royal heritage, so a small rocking bridge didn't affect her. She quickly brought herself back into reality.

A guard at each end was setting the bridge on fire. She had nowhere left to run. She heard other guards calling for them to put the fires out, but no one did.

"The King wants her alive!" she heard someone call through the fire.

"Who cares? Just say she committed suicide or that she vanished," she heard as planks of burning wood fell into the river.

"We can't just leave her to burn!" she heard. Another plank fell into the water.

"We'll recover her burned body or-"he was cut off by the noise of the fire.

Taking a deep breath, Aelin stood on the edge of the burning bridge. Her long blonde hair whipped around her hair in the wind. She closed her eyes and jumped.

The water was icy compared to the heat of the fire. She was disorientated by the fast churning water. She broke the surface briefly, breathing in a snatch of breath before she was tossed about by the moving river.

"I'm sorry Crown Prince!" Aelin shouted, hoping that Dorian, the guards or someone heard her before she was dragged under the water once again.

Dorian

Chaol burst through the door to Dorian's room to find four guards standing there. Dorian himself was sat in bed looking ill and unnerved. He stared out of the window at the place where the child had just been slaughtered. Looking up, Dorian spotted his friend at the doorway and blushed. He was sat in Terrasen green night clothes surrounded by vomit.

Dorian spoke slowly. "I'm fine. Please leave me."

When the guards had left, Dorian dressed hastily, washed his mouth out and took a deep breath. He went out into the hall to find Chaol.

We need to find Aelin," Dorian said quietly. "Now."

Dorian and Chaol began combing the castle, searching through each room thoroughly. They began with the kitchen, thinking that she had snuck out of her room in the middle of the night to steal more cake. When she wasn't there, however, Chaol turned to Dorian.

"This is hopeless," he said. "We'll never find her."

Dorian sat on a stool in the kitchen and sighed deeply. He hadn't quite gotten over the traumatic scenes that he saw earlier.

"Are you okay Your Highness?" Chaol asked, noticing that Dorian had sat down.

"I'm fine Chaol." Dorian said, breathing deeply.

"You don't look it Your-"

"Stop calling me Your Highness. I promise I am fine Master Westfall." Dorian interrupted.

Chaol's eyes narrowed. "You know I don't care about being Lord of Anielle, and you look like you've seen a lot. Are you okay?"

"I-" Dorian stopped himself. He breathed in deeply again. "I wish I had been able to apologise. It's my entire fault that this happened." Chaol remained silent, holding Dorian's eye contact. "If I hadn't spilt tea on her dress, she wouldn't have threatened to beat me up. My dad then wouldn't have ordered the attack. It's my entire fault."

Chaol

"You can't be serious," Chaol said, almost smiling. "Your dad isn't stupid enough to order an attack on his strongest enemy just because of one incident. This isn't your fault Dorian."

Dorian looked his friend straight in the face. Chaol was three years older than him, but he and Dorian were the same height. Chaol stared directly into his friend's eyes. They were slightly glassed over with tears, making the sapphire blue shimmer. Chaol had never seen Dorian cry before. They'd know each other for most of Dorian's life, and he had still never seen him cry, not even when he was really little.

"Dorian?" Chaol asked cautiously.

"I'm fine Chaol," Dorian said firmly, then sniffed. "Are you sure it's not my fault?"

"I promise it's not." Chaol assured.

Dorian was silent for a minute. He wouldn't meet Chaol's eye. He looked around at the stag themed paintings and statues spread along the hallway.

"Let's keep looking." Chaol suggested. Dorian nodded and the continued looking in the castle.

 **It's quite a long chapter to make up for the time it took to write. Please review and I will post another chapter ASAP.**


	4. Chapter 4

A World without you, chapter 4

 **Author's note: Ok, sorry this has taken so long to upload. I hit a bit of a brick wall. Anyway, please review this; I'm willing to take any feedback (good or bad). I'm also thinking of starting another fanfiction about Celaena, Chaol and Dorian.**

 **Let's go!**

Aelin's POV

"Hello?"

"Hello?"

"Hello!" Aelin groggily raised her head. The first thing she felt was the mud coating her hair, face and body. Her clothes were soaking and she was cold and sleepy.  
"Can you hear me?" Aelin pushed herself up on her knees, and faced the person speaking.

A young man, no older than twenty, was looking at her, curiously. He had shoulder length auburn hair and silver eyes. He was muscular and slightly tanned. Aelin looked him up and down before blurting out:

"Where am I?"

"On the bank of the River Avery," the young man said, "In Adarlan."

"Adarlan?" Aelin asked, shocked. Her parents, Lady Marion, they had all wanted her to get away from Adarlan. She had repaid them by being careless enough to fall into a river that led directly to Adarlan.

"Are you an orphan?" The man questioned, almost as though he could sense that she wanted to change the subject.

"I…Yes." Aelin stuttered.

"Do you have a name?" He asked her quietly.

"I do, but I-"

"Want to forget your past?" the man laughed. "I can give you a future. I can give you a home and a name too." He paused, waiting for Aelin's reply.

"What do I need to do?" Aelin asked quietly.

"I'll train you, I'll feed you and clothe you, but you will need to pay me back eventually." He said, before adding, "but you can do that in sections."

Aelin thought for a moment. She had no idea what it was like on the streets of Rifthold as an orphan, but she'd seen some beggars once when she visited the kingdom. She'd seen how some had resorted to stealing because they didn't have enough money for food.

"What will my name be?" Aelin asked quietly. Her eyes were on the ground.

"I've got a few you could choose from," the man replied. "Do you accept my offer?"

"I would like to go with you and learn from you and repay you in time." Aelin announced.

The man stepped back. He smiled at her, his silver eyes sparkling slightly.

"What name would you like?" he asked, his mouth twitching slightly.

Aelin thought for a while. She didn't want to completely ignore her heritage, but she was also ashamed of running away in Terrasen's time of need. Instead of acting like a leader, she just lay around.

Lay. Laena.

"Can a name be made out of Laena?" she asked the man.

"Laena? Why do you want a name made out of Laena?" he asked, looking slightly amused.

"I… I don't know," Aelin admitted. "It just sounds cool to me."

"I thought about the surname of Sardothian for you. I think it would sound good. But Laena Sardothian doesn't."

They were both silent for a moment. His silver eyes were fixed on her turquoise ones. The river rippled in the background.

"Celaena." He said, destroying the peace and serenity of the river bank. "Celaena Sardotheian."

Aelin stared at him, before slowly nodding. She felt free, calmer and somehow safer. He began to walk towards his horse before turning to Celaena and gesturing for her to follow. He helped her onto the horse before he set off towards the city.

Dorian's POV

Dorian was sitting on his horse. They were riding back towards Adarlan, leaving behind the destroyed remnants of Terrasen. His father rode ahead of him with Duke Perrington next to him. Queen Georgiana rode next to Dorian. Her baby bump was beginning to become more obvious by the day. Dorian would have usually plagued his mother with questions on long journeys; however he sat on the back of his horse in silence.

"Are you alright Dorian?" Queen Georgiana asked, "You're awfully quiet today."

Dorian looked up into his mother's concerned eyes. They were sapphire blue, just like his own. A lock of dark brown hair had fallen from her bun, obscuring her vision slightly.

"I'm fine Mother," Dorian said quietly, "I'm just tired."

"Yes, I heard that you and your friend were rampaging around the castle every night. Other people were trying to sleep, Dorian."

Dorian looked away in embarrassment. He didn't want to admit his guilt to his parents; they wouldn't understand. He could see the glass castle on the horizon.

The sight of it made Dorian want to vomit. It was not a beautiful creation, but a show of the power Adarlan had gained from slaughtering and enslaving innocent people. His title made him feel sick.

Chaol's POV

"I don't want to be Lord of Anielle." Chaol shouted at his father, his voice echoing through their house. "I want to work with Dorian."

"You're obsessed." His father said, calmly. "You're only twelve Chaol. You'll soon grow to understand."

"I don't want to be Lord!" Chaol repeated. He was slightly calmer now, though not much.

Chaol's mother entered the room quietly. She coughed, alerting Chaol and his father to her presence.

"I need to see a healer." she said quietly.

"What?" Chaol's father almost shouted.

"The baby."

Chaol's parents left immediately, leaving Chaol alone. He sighed before retreating to his room. He picked up a map of Erilea and sat on his bed, studying it. Ever since his parents had started fussing over his soon to be sibling, he had taken to studying maps, since he didn't have the patience to read many novels. He enjoyed learning about his life.

Hours of studying passed and it grew dark outside. Chaol made himself some stew and continued studying until his parents came back. He didn't even look up.

"Chaol, say hello to your little brother." his dad said.

Chaol put the map down and stood up. He looked at the bundle in his mother's arms. A small, pink faced creature had its eyes closed.

"What's he called?" Chaol asked.

"Would you like to name him, Chaol?" his father asked.

"No."


	5. Chapter 5

A world without you chapter 5

 **Author's note: It starts with Chaol this time, not Celaena, and then it goes to her, then Dorian. Also, there is much more blood in this chapter, so don't read it if you're slightly squeamish. It's not too graphic, don't worry!**

 **Thank you for all the lovely reviews! It's really inspiring to see people enjoying my story! Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed and followed this story. You guys make all this worthwhile  
**

**Anyhow…**

Chaol's POV

The Lord and Lady of Anielle completely ignored their heir. Their focus remained entirely on the new baby they had. Chaol was left almost completely to his own devices.

Not that he minded. He had time to focus on studying battle techniques in the library of Anielle. He could also write letters to Dorian without his father breathing down his neck.

" _To Dorian,_

 _Did you get back to the castle alright? I guess you must have to have been able to receive my letter.  
My parents have had another baby. He's called Terrin. They focus on him all the time now, so I can finally study to be a royal guard._

 _I have a lot of free time to write now, since my parents aren't obsessed with teaching me to be Lord of Anielle anymore, so please write back soon. I hope you're ok. Has your sibling been born yet?_

 _See you soon,_

 _Chaol._

Chaol sighed, folding his letter. He closed his book on sword fighting and left the library. The streets of Anielle were lit only by the lights from the houses; the moon was clouded over. Carriages passed Chaol frequently as he walked home alone, with the library book under his arm. His house was only two streets away from the library.

Chaol carefully opened his front door so as to not alert his parents of his presence. His mum was busy with Terrin and his dad was reading in his office. Chaol slipped into kitchen where a stew was cooking on the stove. Taking a bowl carefully from the cupboard, Chaol ladled some from the pan before he slipped upstairs to his room. He sat at his desk and unfolded the book, studying more battle techniques long into the night.

"Chaol."

"Chaol."  
"Chaol." Chaol awoke with a start. His half full bowl of stew was tepid, and his book was still open to parrying techniques. His candle had burnt out completely, and his father was stood over him.

"Why are you studying battle techniques Chaol?" his father asked, narrowing his eyes at his son. "The Lord of Anielle doesn't need to understand such detailed techniques."

"I don't want to be lord," Chaol said, sleepily. "I want to be-"  
"Captain of the Royal Guard," his father sighed, "I know Chaol. But you need to accept that it will never happen, no matter how good friends you are with the future king. You will be lord Chaol. You need to get your head out of the clouds and accept the truth."

"No," said Chaol, standing up suddenly, "you need to accept that I don't want to be lord. You have another son you can use as your heir. You don't need me. You don't care about me, so why shouldn't I try and do what I want with my life?"

Celaena's POV

Celaena approached the house in the middle of Rifthold, trying to guess what kind of life she had just accepted. Judging by the nice house, she assumed the man was very wealthy. He must have been a merchant, or a trader of fine, expensive objects. Either way, Celaena felt she was very lucky to have been found by him.

"Celaena," he said, turning around to her, "no one must ever know the location of this place, so you must defend it until you're dead." His eyes were steady and serious, fixed on her blue, unblinking eyes. "This is serious Celaena. You can never tell anyone where this place is, undertand?"

Celaena nodded, realising that she didn't have much choice.

"Good," he said, dismounting his horse before helping her down. "Then welcome to your new home."

He led her inside the house, revealing expensive rugs, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Grand staircases led from the main hall to higher levels, and large oak doors lined the halls. A few people walked along the upper level, and some men were stood guard in front of some of the doors.

Celaena was taken aback by the sheer elegance of the building. It was almost as impressive as the castle itself.

"Allow me to show you to your room," the man said, leading her by the arm up a staircase. He led her up another staircase before leading her to a heavy oak door. He gestured for her to go in.

Slowly opening the door, Celaena found a large room with a queen sized bed in the corner. A large walk-in wardrobe was next to a white vanity with a large, circular mirror. Another door, no doubt a bathroom, was along the opposite wall to the wardrobe. The door was cracked open slightly, revealing a clean, white bathtub.

"Do you want to clean up before dinner, Celaena?" the man asked. She jumped, having forgotten his presence. She was too intrigued by the beauty.

"I-Yes please," she managed, quietly.

He laughed. "I thought so. We have an hour before dinner is ready, so why don't you freshen up? I'm sure there's something that'll fit you in the wardrobe."

Celaena nodded slowly. Dinner sounded good to her. She hadn't eaten since the banquet. She also wanted to explore this beautiful mystery of a building privately.

"I'll send someone for you at dinner," he said, still smiling, "and if you need me, ask for Arobynn Hamel. Tell them you're his protégé if anyone asks."

He left then, shutting the door firmly behind him. Celaena rushed into the bathroom, undoing her dress and filling the bathtub with warm water. Scouring the cupboards, she found a small bottle of lavender scented soap. Climbing into the bathtub, she relaxed and washed the blood and mud from her hair and body.

Dorian's POV

Sitting in his room, Dorian was finishing reading a book. The plot was a bit boring in this one; the characters didn't do much other than what the plot demanded. Sighing, Dorian ventured out of his room. He headed to the library quietly when he heard a cough behind him.

"Finished that book already Dorian?" Dorian spun around to face his father. Dorian looked at the thick, hardback book in his hand and flushed slightly pink. He had collected the book earlier that day.

"Yes Father," Dorian mumbled. "I was going to-"

"Get another?" his father cut in, laughing. "A prince does not need to read Dorian. That's why I'm having you educated on etiquette and courtship. Don't you appreciate what your mother and I are doing for you?"

"I appreciate it Father, just-"

"Just what Dorian?"

Dorian paused for a moment. He shook his head and looked the King full in the face.

"Dorian?" he father pressed on.

"I-" Dorian tried. He breathed deeply. "I was just trying to relax before those visitors arrive soon."

"And you were doing that by reading? Why don't you learn how to hunt, or go riding?"

"Yes Father." Dorian gave up. His father slowly took the book from him and held out Dorian's crown for him.

"Father-" Dorian began, but the king pushed his crown on his black curls.

"I need to check on your mother. Aren't you excited to have a little sibling?"

Dorian nodded, not wanting to get into an argument, and he darted out towards the stables. Carefully opening the door, he slipped in with the hunting dogs. Dorian sat down and removed his crown. He was immediately swarmed by puppies. They bounded across the stable towards him, climbing onto his lap. Dorian laughed and placed his crown onto the head of the nearest puppy. It shook its head, the crown slipping slightly over its left eye. Dorian smiled and relaxed as he played with the puppies. He spent the whole afternoon with the hunting dogs; they bounced around him and he scratched them behind the ears and he stroked their brown coats.

"What on earth are you doing Dorian?"

 **Author's note: Ooooo, suspense! I will hopefully update ASAP, but if I don't update before Christmas, merry Christmas/ happy Hanukah/ have a good holiday!**

 **Also, should Celaena meet Sam or Lysandra in the next chapter?**


	6. Chapter 6

A World without you chapter 6

 **Author's note: Ok, last chapter I said there would be more blood, but there wasn't. Sorry about that. I now know Adarlan's colours are red and gold (thanks for telling me btw), but I wasn't sure in chapter 2, so I wrote it as blue. Should I continue using blue, or should I change? There's going to be a bit of dress description, so skip it if you find that boring. The dresses don't matter too much to the plot, I just like including OTT detail.**

 **Spoiler: due to popular demand (thanks guys 3) Sam's going to turn up this chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

Celaena's POV

Celaena awoke, startled slightly. She was still in the bath, and the water was slightly warm, so she hadn't been asleep for too long. Celaena smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her blonde hair had finally been cleaned of the blood and dirt, and the grime she had accumulated in the river had been scrubbed from her body. She smiled at herself in the mirror before rubbing her long hair with a green towel.

"Miss?" a teenager poked her head around Celaena's door. Celaena looked up silently, slightly self-conscious as she was sitting in a red bathrobe with long, dripping blonde hair.

"Yes?" Celaena asked shyly, aware of her position.

"Arobynn sent me up to help you dry your hair." The girl entered the room and pulled a chair in front of the vanity. She looked expectantly at Celaena, then at the chair. Shyly, Celaena sat down before the girl pulled back her hair and began to comb it. It hurt slightly, however Celaena didn't speak.

"So," the teenager said, "I'm Aisha. Arobynn told me you nearly drowned. Are you from Adarlan?" She was very bubbly and pretty, with dark eyes and hair. Her hair fell in a mass of soft curls that framed her olive skinned face perfectly.

"I- no. I'm from Terrasen." Celaena said quietly.

"I've never been to Terrasen." Aisha said. "Is it nice there?"

"It depends on what you mean by nice." Celaena said, relaxing slightly as Aisha combed and dried her hair.

"Are people friendly in Terrasen?" Aisha tried again.

"All the ones I met were." Celaena said. "Most people would lay their lives down for you in Terrasen." _Some did_ she thought.

"It sounds friendly, and kind. Much kinder than here anyway."

They both fell into silence as Aisha carefully towelled Celaena's hair dry. She opened a drawer on the vanity to reveal some gold hair pins. Carefully pulling her hair back, Aisha pinned it up into a bun slightly to the right of the back of her head.

"There you go," Aisha said, before leaving Celaena alone again. Celaena looked in amazement at her hair in the mirror. Even the servants in Terrasen never did her hair in any style like that.

Celaena stood up and crossed to the walk in wardrobe in the corner. It was almost entirely empty except for two formal dresses, two night dresses, and two entirely black outfits. Ignoring the black and the nightwear, Celaena compared the two dresses. One was red with almost see through shoulders and sleeves. It had a straight skirt and was floor length. It had a sash that tied at the back around her waist, and gold studs dotted across it. The silk was cool to the touch and soft on her skin.

The second was a navy blue dress with a long, floaty skirt. It had thin straps and the material crossed over across her torso. The material was very light. The skirt dragged slightly on the ground.

Celaena hung both up before searching for shoes. She found two pairs, everything was in twos. One pair was silver ballerina pumps. The other were black, lace up shoes.

*10 minutes later*

Celaena emerged from her room, dressed in a navy blue floor length dress. She held it up slightly, so as to not trip over it. She still had about ten minutes to explore the grand house.

Checking the grandfather clock, Celaena set off down the landing. She didn't knock on any of the doors; her initial shyness took over when she approached one. Looking across to the main landing, she saw a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Small rainbows were projected onto the walls as sunlight shone through the windows to the crystals.

Someone walked into her, knocking her off her feet. Celaena looked up to find a boy slightly larger than her lying half on top of her.

"What are you doing?" he snapped at her.

"I-W-You just walked into me and you ask what I'm doing?" Celaena snapped back.

"Yeah, but I know everyone here. I don't know you. That means you're new."

He got up and extended a hand to her. She took it, getting a good look at his face. He had a small scar across his left cheek. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. His face was neutral, if a little curious.

"Who are you anyway?" he asked her.

"A-Celaena." She stopped herself. Aelin was dead. Celaena Sardothian was her name now.

"I'm Sam," he said. "Sam Cortland. Arobynn and Ben are training me. Are you being trained by Clarisse?"

"Who?" Celaena asked. "I know Arobynn. I think he said something about his protégé, but I don't really know."

"Miss Sardothian! Dinner!" someone called to her, interrupting.

"I need to-"

"Of you go to dinner Celaena." Sam said, a little bitterly. "Enjoy living here."

She watched him leave before she descended the main staircase. Arobynn was waiting at the bottom for her.

"I see Aisha did a good job with your hair. Shall we?" he asked, gesturing to another room. He led her into a dining room where a large banquet was set out on the table.

Dorian's POV

"I-" Dorian stared, but he gave up. There was no point in trying to talk to his father, especially when he'd been caught messing around. He looked away from his dad's eyes, the anger scaring him.

"What were you doing in here Dorian?" the king repeated, twisting the black ring idly on his finger.

"Nothing Father," said Dorian quietly. He stared down at his feet in order to avoid his dad's eye contact.

"I don't want to ever catch you in here again Dorian," the King snapped before heading back into the castle. Dorian stared after him before picking up his crown and retreating to the castle.

Dorian sighed as he trudged towards his room; he was bored out of his mind. There was nothing to do in the castle except read. Turning around, Dorian ran towards the library, nodding to the guards. Scanning the shelves quickly, Dorian grabbed the first book that looked interesting before picking up a couple of others. He carried the five books he had chosen to his room before he studied the selection. _Legends and beasts. The Room of Doors. Gold or Life? Magical Mysteries. Surviving On Your Own._

Dorian's eyes stopped on the last one. He could survive by himself, couldn't he? He could spend a little time with his new sibling and his parents. He could even spend some time with the dogs as long as he made sure the coast was clear. He could spend as little time with his family as necessary, and he would be alright.

Dorian opened the book and read "I can survive well enough on my own with good reading material. Fiction is created to help you-"

"Dorian," the Queen's voice drifted up to Dorian's room, disrupting his thoughts. He slammed the book shut and stuffed it under his pillow in case someone found it and alerted his dad. Hell, he didn't even know why a book like that was in the Royal Library in the first place. Dorian didn't argue as he slowly descended the steps from his room in the tower to the main throne room. His mother was sat on her throne, smiling at him.

"Mother," Dorian said, bowing slightly as he entered the room, "how are you feeling?"

"Better Dorian," the queen said smiling. "Chocolate?" she offered. Dorian took one as he sat on the throne next to hers, finally relaxing. He loved his mother much more than his father as she gave him much more attention.

"When is your baby going to be born Mother?" Dorian asked quietly.

"Soon Dorian," she said, smiling. "In the next few weeks I think."

The two continued chatting casually until the King came in. Both fell silent as he entered.

"Hello Dorian. Hello Georgiana. I've been told that dinner is ready for us," the King said, smiling slightly. They both looked at each other and nodded before they followed the King to the dining hall.

Chaol's POV

Chaol's father stared at him.

"I do care about you Chaol. I don't think you realise what you could do as lord of Anielle rather than Captain of a Royal Guard."

"That's why I'm reading up on my potential." Chaol said simply.

His father sighed and said "Chaol, we'll have no more of this Captain of the Royal Guard nonsense. You've been acting this way ever since we got home from Terrasen. What on earth is-"

"There is nothing wrong with me!" Chaol shouted. "Just because I have an idea of what I want to do with my life, doesn't mean there's something wrong with me. Just because I'm more sentient than the other mindless rulers on this continent, doesn't mean there's something wrong with me. Is there something wrong with free thinking? Is there something-?"

"Enough," a voice from downstairs said, cutting off Chaol's rant mid-sentence. "You'll wake Terin."

"Think it over Chaol," his dad said, patting him on the shoulder as he left.

Chaol waited until his father had left before opening his book again. He picked up some paper and scribbled another short letter to Dorian.

 _Hello Your Highness,_

 _I haven't heard from you yet. I guess you must just be really busy with royal duties and stuff._

 _Has your new sibling been born yet? Is your dad being nicer to you about growing up?_

 _I kind of miss you. I can't wait until I see you again._

 _Write soon_

 _Chaol._

Chaol sighed as he shut his book and pushed it into his bag. He stuffed the letter in and ran down the stairs, leaving for his school. He passed the library and handed in his book about sword fighting techniques as well as his letter to Dorian.

"Thank you Mr- Uh" the woman said as she collected his book and letter.

"Uh, Westfall. Chaol Westfall." Chaol said quickly. The woman merely raised an eyebrow before collecting his letter and book.

"Your secret's safe with me." She said, smiling as Chaol left for his school.

 **Sorry it has been ages since I last updated. I have exams coming up so I may not update until around Valentine's Day. To make up for it, I'll write a longer chapter with blood and possibly swearing next time.**

 **Please review. All feedback is helpful to me. Bye guys and stay awesome!**


	7. Chapter 7

A World without you chapter 7

 **Author's note: Sorry it's been ages since I last uploaded. I have got exams coming up, so I have decided to try and upload a couple of chapters a month. Please keep reviewing! All reviews are accepted: the lovely ones and the constructive ones. Thanks to you guys as well, because you inspire me to write more.**

 **Any suggestions for ideas would be great xx**

Celaena's POV

Arobynn sat at the table, motioning for Celaena to join him. A magnificent banquet was set out, and several men and women were seated around the table.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Arobynn said in a polished, perfect manner, "may I introduce the newest member to the Guild."

All eyes turned to Celaena, and she felt herself begin to flush. Arobynn led her to the end of the table. He sat at the head, and he motioned her to sit in her seat to his right. People all around the table began to dig into the feast.

Celaena felt a little out of place. She didn't know any of these people, and they again didn't seem to be taking any notice of her. Scanning the table, the only person she could see who was remotely similar to her was a girl sat next to a beautiful woman. The girl had dark brown hair the same colour as Celaena's favourite chocolate cake, and she too seemed shy. The woman next to her was in a heated discussing with Arobynn.

Celaena began to pile roast potatoes **(I love them, don't judge)** onto her plate when the girl spoke.

"Are you being trained by Clarisse?"

Celaena looked up from the food to meet the girl's eyes. They were a deep green colour, reminding her of Terrasen. Celaena's voice caught slightly in her throat as she spoke.

"Who's Clarisse?"

The girl smiled at her and tipped her head to her left at the woman in a heated discussion with Arobynn. "She's training me. Of course, I'll have to pay her eventually, but it's better than being on the streets." She paused slightly to gaze curiously at Celaena. "Why are you here then, if not to be trained by Clarisse?"

Celaena was busy adding some meats to her plate as she said, "Arobynn said he's training me personally or something. I'm not sure." She began to eat, the slightly salty potatoes and the savoury meats making her smile.

"You're lucky," the girl said, "I've met a couple of people in the Guild who are trained by Arobynn."

"Arobynn," Clarisse cut in, "this is Lysandra, the girl I was talking about."

Celaena and Lysandra looked at each other before Lysandra turned and smiled beautifully to Arobynn.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Hamel," Lysandra gushed, clearly acting. Celaena focused on eating so that she didn't have to look at Lysandra, Arobynn and Clarisse. She cleared her plate and yawned widely.

"Are you ready for dessert, Celaena?" Arobynn asked her kindly, noticing how quiet she was. Celaena nodded slowly. Arobynn called over a servant girl and whispered something to her before he turned back to Clarisse, blocking out Lysandra and Celaena.

"So," Lysandra began, "how old are you?"

"Eight," Celaena said quietly. "What about you?"

"I'm eight too." Lysandra smiled at her. "I'm not usually allowed to go to dinners like these, but Clarisse wanted me to meet Arobynn."

Large plates of desserts had been placed on the table. Treacle tarts, profiteroles, and, most importantly, chocolate cake were all placed on the table at different intervals. Luckily for Celaena, a large chocolate cake was placed in between her and Lysandra.

"Dig in girls," Arobynn said. He cut a slice of treacle tart for himself as Lysandra took two profiteroles. Celaena began to cut into the chocolate cake.

"Lysandra," Clarisse began, "You know you're not allowed to eat this much. If you do-"

"Let the girl have a night off," Arobynn laughed. Lysandra looked across the table and caught Celaena's eye as she cut a second slice of cake.

The dinner began to draw to a close and Lysandra and Celaena both began yawning.

"Get some rest Celaena," Arobynn told her, "we'll start training tomorrow. I'll send someone up in the morning."

Dorian's POV

Dorian sat silently at his father's right hand side. As the heir, he had to smile and behave at every dinner, but the words in the book couldn't stop nagging him. His father had always told him that fiction was a waste of time, but the book seemed so right.

"Are you even listening, Dorian?" the King snapped, his temper flaring up slightly. Duke Perrington was sitting next to him, looking down his nose slightly at the prince. Dorian cleared his throat slightly and stood up.

"If you don't mind, Father," he said, "I will retire." His father nodded slowly, and his mother looked at him, confused.

Dorian rushed up to his room, not caring that he had barely eaten anything that day. The book under his pillow was too distracting, and he couldn't wait to escape from his royal life.

Pulling out _Surviving on Your Own_ , Dorian opened the book and read "I can survive well enough on my own with good reading material. Fiction is created to help you escape from the hardships of-"

A knock on the door interrupted Dorian. Sighing, he pushed the book under his pillow before he crossed the room and opened the door. It was a guard, holding a letter out to him.

"Your Highness. This came for you."

Dorian took the letter and thanked the guard. Without opening it, Dorian could tell it was from Chaol. The stationary, the smell, the ink, it was all stereotypically Chaol. Smiling, Dorian unrolled it to read:

 _To Dorian,_

 _Did you get back to the castle alright? I guess you must have to have been able to receive my letter.  
My parents have had another baby. He's called Terrin. They focus on him all the time now, so I can finally study to be a royal guard._

 _I have a lot of free time to write now, since my parents aren't obsessed with teaching me to be Lord of Anielle anymore, so please write back soon. I hope you're ok. Has your sibling been born yet?_

 _See you soon,_

 _Chaol._

Dorian checked his desk for some paper and a pen before he started to write a reply.

Chaol's POV

Chaol sat bored throughout his lessons. His mind kept wandering back to the battle techniques he had learnt about. A new book was sitting on his desk, hidden among his history work. His teacher walked past, not noticing anything was wrong. Most people at his school ignored him. They treated him differently because he was going to be _Lord_ someday, despite Chaol's decision that he most definitely was not going to be lord.

Chaol sighed as the class began to disperse. No one waited behind for him as he slipped his books into his leather bag. Chaol silently left his school and headed towards Silver Lake. Trudging slowly through the forest, he approached the bank of the lake and sat down, pulling out his book and canteen of water. He remained absorbed in his book of battle techniques until the sun began to set and it began to get colder by the lake. Repacking his bag, Chaol quickly headed back into Anielle via the library.

"Hello Chaol," his father said, standing in the door way of the library, "I was just here to send some letters. What would you be here for, Chaol? Would you be here to pick up another book about some Captain of the Royal Guard nonsense?"

Chaol was taken back home by his father after he had given back the book. Grounded to his room, Chaol stared out of the window, bored to tears. His father had taken his books and paper, preventing him from writing to Dorian or reading. Even his school work was kept out of his room to punish him. Sighing, Chaol started studying the map of Erilea as a way to keep him entertained. After what seemed like hours of studying the map, Chaol finally fell asleep.

 **I hop y'all like this chapter. Sorry it took so long to upload! I may start another fanfiction as I have so many ideas. Does anyone here ship Lysandra and Dorian?**

 **Stay awesome xx**


	8. Chapter 8

A World without you chapter 8

 **Author's note: Sorry it's been forever since I last uploaded. School has and will be a little hectic for a while and so I'll try and upload as much as I can. As a present from me to all of you, I'm going to add in Aedion's POV now. There's also going to be a boring bit about breakfast, so you can skip that if you want. It's between the stars (*). All reviews are appreciated and loved. Thank you for reading it guys and stay awesome xx**

Celaena's POV

Sunlight streamed through the window as Celaena slowly got out of bed. Arobynn, was that his name?, hadn't sent anyone for her yet, but she still got up and checked her wardrobe again. Both dresses were there, despite her having no recollection of hanging up the blue one, along with the two other sets of clothes. Celaena began to change into one of them as she heard knock on the door.

"One moment please," Celaena called, a little quieter than she hoped. She could hear the door opening as she struggled to pull on the lace up shoes. Aisha walked into the doorway, carrying a tray of porridge and tea. **(I'm so British)**

"Arobynn sent me to get you," she said, smiling a little as she set the tray down on Celaena's table. ***** She carefully poured Celaena some tea.

Celaena took the tea of her as she sat down. Pulling the porridge towards her, she tasted it before adding lots of brown sugar. Celaena swallowed before asking "Has Arobynn told you to look after me?"

Aisha smiled. "No, I work for Clarisse. I just thought by helping Arobynn, I could pay off my debts faster." *** (There, it's over)**

Celaena wolfed down the rest of her breakfast before she stood up. Aisha gathered up her discarded bowl and tea cup before she led Celaena to the main hall. Arobynn was waiting for them.

"Celaena Sardothian," he smiled, "I hereby choose you as my protégé. I will teach you everything. Are you ready?"

Celaena silently nodded her head as Arobynn led her down to the basement of the grand house. Down there were walls of weapons of every type, and large areas for training. Celaena didn't question anything as she was led further into the basement, to a wall of shields.

Turning to her, Arobynn asked, "Do you know what the most important part of attack is?" Shocked, Celaena shook her head silently. "It's your defence."

Arobynn showed Celaena first of all how to defend herself in hand-to-hand combat, meaning that she ended up with a black eye and blood pouring from her nose, along with bruises across the rest of her body. Eventually, she could block most of his attacks easily.

Smiling like a snake, Arobynn said "Let's move onto something better, shall we?"

Hungry and tired, Celaena was given a shield before being attacked mercilessly with a wooden stick. She thanked the Wyrd that Arobynn had only set that kid, was he called Sam, on her and that he'd only given him a stick instead of an actual sword. Still, Sam seemed to be angry and most of his blows hit their target. She still managed to defend about a third of them from hitting her face. Arobynn and another man stood at the side, watching the two "fighting". Neither seemed to be smiling.

Celaena was distracted by them, giving Sam a chance to give her hit to the face, hard, with his pole, knocking her down. Arobynn sauntered over to her and picked up the shield, forcefully whispering "Get up."

Aedion's POV

Aedion paced around his room in Orynth. Locked in, all he could do was watch as Adarlan soldiers swept in, the red of Adarlan's colours sweeping through the city like blood trickling around cobbled stones. He watched, helplessly, as men, women, and children were dragged to the butchering blocks. Some were killed on the spot, and others were chained up, ready for Endovier or Calaculla. Aedion watched in horror as soldiers mercilessly tore families apart; one guard even going as far as to murder a woman's baby in front of her.

From that moment of pure cruelty, Aedion made his choice. Whether Aelin was dead or alive, he would someday make the King of Adarlan pay for what he did to the innocent citizens of Terrasen. And he was going to make him pay for every single one.

Dorian's POV

 _To Chaol,_

 _We got to the castle perfectly fine, thank you. How was your trip home to Anielle?_

 _My younger sibling hasn't been born yet. I'm starting to think he never will be. Father is trying to get me to understand my "royal duties", but I don't understand why it's so important that I smile constantly, or am always in attendance to royal dinners. I can barely see over the piles of food at some of the banquets; how am I meant to prepare to be like my father?_

 _I can't wait until you're Captain of the Royal Guard one day. Until then, I'll write to you as much as I can._

 _I hope you're doing well. Please write back as soon as possible,_

 _HRH, Dorian._

On second thoughts, Dorian neatly crossed out the His Royal Highness at the bottom. He'd spent years of his life trying to stop people always referring to him as "Prince Dorian", so he most definitely wouldn't persuade them to start again.

Handing the letter to the guard outside, Dorian threw his cloak over the end of his bed. Yawning, he undressed before getting into his night clothes. Moving the book from under his pillow, he slipped it under his cloak, in case someone came upstairs. Settling down in bed, Dorian sighed quietly.

 _Will I ever be a good king? What if my little sibling ever had magic? What if Adarlan gets over thrown? What if Aelin comes back? What if Chaol died? What if Chaol had magic? What if-_

His door opening cut off his tumbling thoughts. His mum smiled at him as she slowly sat on his bed next to him. Her auburn hair was loose, for the first time in Dorian's living memory, and her green eyes were filled with kindness. Stroking Dorian's hair, she spoke soothingly to him.

"You rushed off very quickly Dorian. Is something wrong?" she asked, smoothing his raven hair.

"No Mother, I'm just tired and not hungry," Dorian said, guilty about lying to his mum.

"Have you thought about what you want your little sibling to be called?" the Queen asked, smiling.

Dorian shook his head and his mum smiled. She kissed his forehead before she left, tying her hair up as she went.

Chaol's POV

Chaol awoke to silence. Testing his bedroom door, he found it unlocked at last. Both his parents and Terrin had left, giving him a whole day to spend by himself. Chaol headed into the kitchen and took a bowl of his mother's stew. Standing on a chair to reach his books again, Chaol packed a small bag of books, put an apple in as well, and ate the stew. He left quickly, shutting up the house and heading down to the Silver Lake.

Chaol sat by the lake for hours, reading all his books and enjoying his afternoon. He headed back home when he was done, to find his parents packing some things back into bags. Chaol's father saw him.

"Chaol, pack your things. We're going to Rifthold."

Chaol stopped. "Rifthold, father? For how long?"

"For as long as it takes to stop the tribes of the White Fang Mountains from attacking Anielle. The King has said we can stay in the Glass Castle."

Chaol rushed off before his father was finished. The castle meant royalty, and royalty meant Dorian. He would see his friend again. It had only been about a month, but it felt like a lifetime.

Chaol smiled, knowing it wouldn't be forever, but it would be for long enough.

 **The Aedion chapter was very short, I know, but they will be longer in future. Also, I'm going to start a couple of new fics on the side soon, but this will be my main priority. I hope y'all enjoyed it x**


	9. Chapter 9

A World without you chapter 9

 **Author's note: Okay, I'm sorry for not uploading this sooner. I'm going to have exams for a few months, so I may not upload much until they're over. I'll still try and upload as much as possible. All reviews are appreciated and loved. Thank you for reading it guys and stay awesome xx**

Celaena's POV

Celaena stood up, picking up the shield. She faced Sam and gripped the shield harder. Sam swung his stick idly around his head before he turned back to her. Arobynn had retreated back to next to the other man and, while both were deep in conversation, Celaena noticed their eyes constantly flick towards her and Sam.

Celaena turned back to Sam. He raised the stick and brought it down. Instinctively, Celaena raised her hand to defend her face, and all Sam hit was the metal shield.

After roughly an hour, Celaena was exhausted. She had significantly improved since Arobynn's "pep talk" and could block almost all of Sam's hits.

She turned to her new teacher as he walked towards her clapping slowly. He had a smirk on his face as he took the shield off her.

"You've really improved Celaena," he said, "but now, let's move onto teaching you how to defend yourself without a shield."

The other man Celaena had seen brought down a tray of small sandwiches and some glasses of water. He placed it onto a table, and walked over to Arobynn. Sam watched from across the room as the man spoke quietly to Arobynn.

"You can take a break now," Arobynn said casually to Celaena and Sam. He stalked out of the room quickly without looking back.

Celaena cautiously followed Sam towards the tray. Sam grabbed a glass of water and a sandwich. His eyes met hers as she stared at him.

"Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to eat?" Sam snapped her out of her trance. She slowly walked towards him and picked up a sandwich gingerly. She slowly bit into the sandwich. Sam watched her closely.

"Do you know Ben?" he asked quickly.

She swallowed. "Who?"

"Ben. The guy talking to your master."

"Master?" she scoffed slightly. "I don't have a master. He was talking to my…my teacher."

"Teacher?" It was Sam's turn to scoff. "He's teaching you, alright, but not about Erilea and reading. Anyway, the guy Arobynn was talking to is Ben."

She chewed silently before she swallowed. "What's he like?" she said, before taking another bite of her sandwich.

"He's much gentler than your "teacher" I guess," Sam said quickly before taking another bite of his sandwich.

"Hey Sam," Ben said, carrying another tray of chocolate brownies **(It's not Throne of Glass unless there's something chocolate related)** "hi, is it Celaena?"

She nodded silently.

"I'm Ben," he said. He had a bowl of water and a towel with him. "Do you want me to clean up your face a little?"

Celaena looked across the room to a sword rack. She slowly walked towards them and caught sight of her reflection in the polished metal.

She was a mess. She had a nose bleed, and the blood was streaked through her hair. She had red marks on her face, which she felt certain would develop into bruises. She had more red marks under her left eye, which was beginning to swell up.

She turned back to Ben, confused, and he smiled kindly. "Don't worry Celaena. You'll get used to the bruises, blood and scars. It comes with the job. Still, do you want me to clean your face up a little?"

Celaena touched her face carefully before she nodded. Standing by the table, she picked up a brownie as Ben slowly cleaned her face. Sam stood nearby, stuffing the brownies into his mouth.

Ben smiled slightly as Celaena stepped back. The blood was cleared up, and the red marks were less obvious.

Arobynn stalked back into the training room, spoke softly to Ben, and strutted out.

Ben smiled at Sam and Celaena.

"Who's ready for some hand to hand combat?"

Aedion's POV

Aedion continued pacing around his room. They still weren't letting him leave. Aedion had drawn the curtains days ago. He was only 13; he didn't need to see what some of the Adarlan guards did to some of the men women and children of Terrrasen. He especially didn't need to see what they were doing to the women and children.

Aedion tried reading, but his mind couldn't focus. He had left for Orynth, when his cousin, her parents, and his people…

Aedion threw the book hard against the wall. He jumped off his bed again and paced. He tried his door again, but he was locked in. He. Cousin to the future queen. Aedion Ashryver. How could they just keep him cooped up in Orynth?

Aedion took a deep breath. He would destroy the King who killed his Queen. He would crumble the kingdom that demolished his Queen's. He would destroy the King of Adarlan slowly, like the king was destroying him.

Aedion picked up the book before he tore out a page. He scribbled a note to the guards and slipped it under his door.

Now, all he had to do was wait.

But patience was a virtue Aedion had.

Dorian's POV

Dorian awoke, freezing cold and boiling hot at the same time. He took a deep breath as he sat up in bed. It was a nightmare. It was only a nightmare. Dorian took another deep breath as he looked out his window. It was dawn; the sky was dark blue and pale pink. Dorian stepped out onto his balcony and looked out over the castle grounds. It was autumn; the leaves were turning brown and orange, with the occasional evergreen dotted through the grounds. Dorian stepped back inside and sat down. Picking up a piece of paper, Dorian started scribbling another letter to Chaol.

Dorian stopped writing. He dressed quickly, and told one of the guards outside his door to send for some breakfast for him.

"No Your Highness," the guard said, "Your father has requested your presence at a special breakfast."

Dorian sighed as he set off down to the banquet hall. He missed Chaol; he missed him a lot. Dorian breathed deeply as he pushed open the doors to the hall.

Everyone fell silent, their eyes on the young prince as he strode confidently through the hall to sit at his father's right hand, between his mother and his father.

"Good morning my son," the King of Adarlan said, smiling slightly. Dorian took some slices of toast and a honey pot.

"Good morning Father," he said quietly as he poured himself some tea and spread honey across his toast.

"Duke Perrington has suggested that you have some extra lessons from your tutor about ruling a kingdom," he said, gesturing to the Duke at his left hand side.

"What do you think, dear?" his mother asked, smiling. Her auburn hair was in a bun, the way she always had it. Dorian wasn't sure about whether he had seen her hair down, or whether he was dreaming.

"Yes Mother, yes Father. That would be wonderful," Dorian said, a fake smile plastered across his face. His parents accepted it and turned back to their meals.

Chaol's POV

Chaol sat on his horse in silence. It was a plain stallion, but he was good enough. Chaol wasn't feeling the same urgency that his parents did. They were all trying to get to Rifthold as soon as possible, but not for the same reasons. Chaol's parents wanted to get to the castle for their safety, but Chaol just wanted to get there to see Dorian. It had only been months, but he still missed his friend.

An autumn drizzle had settled in and it was constantly raining. Chaol never truly got dry, and there was no chance for him to secretly read without his books being damaged by the rain. The journey was getting to him.

"Just two more days and we'll be in Rifthold," Chaol's dad said, slightly too chirpily, since they were leaving due to attacks.

They had stopped at a small tavern for food. Chaol ate little; he'd been to the castle before and he knew how good the food was there. His parents ate much more than he did. Maybe they'd forgotten what the food was like in the castle.

"Let's go," his mother whispered to him and the Westfalls set off to Rifthold again.

 **I know the Chaol chapter was very short, but it will be longer next time as Dorian and Chaol will (fingers crossed) meet. I hope y'all like this though, and any more POV's you want, let me know xx**


	10. Chapter 10

A World Without You Chapter 10

 **Author's note: I am skipping a few weeks because, if I go into detail about every day, this is going to end up longer than a full novel. This is 2 weeks after the last chapter.**

 **Sorry for the very long wait for this chapter! I had exams, but now they're over. I'll try and add at least one chapter per week, possibly more.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

Celaena's POV

"You're getting better at sword fighting." Arobynn said, smiling slightly. "Now try it with your left hand."

Celaena stared at him. "But, I'm right handed," she said, confused.

"And?" Arobynn said. "What if you can't use your right hand for some reason?. What will you do then?"

Celaena remained silent.

"I'll give you two choices, Celaena," Arobynn continued, "either you break your right hand, or I'll break it for you. You need to improve your sword fighting with your left hand." Arobynn turned from her and left her in the training area.

Celaena trudged up the stairs to her rooms. As she entered her room, the door gave her an idea. Putting her hand in the door frame, she closed her eyes and slammed.

"What the hell happened here?" Ben said, slightly out of breath as he ran up the stairs to Celaena. She was slumped on the floor, clutching her right hand.

"I…Arobynn told me I needed to improve my sword fighting with my left hand."

"And you thought it was a good idea to smash your hand in a door?"

"I…Arobynn told me…He'd have broken my hand if I didn't."

Ben's face softened. He helped Celaena up and guided her into her room. He sat her down on her bed and got a towel and bowl of warm water. He gently cleaned her hand before he wrapped it in a bandage.

"To be honest, Celaena, you did make the right choice. I don't think your hand would be mendable if Arobynn was making it useless." Ben said, a slight smile on his face. "You didn't have to slam the door quite so hard though."

Celaena blushed a little. "Please could you tell Arobynn about my hand."

Ben stood up. "Of course. I'm guessing you won't be joining me and Sam for hand to hand combat again for a while," he said, before going.

Celaena got up and carefully changed into a nightgown from her armoire. She curled up in bed, careful not to hurt her hand again, and settled into an uneasy sleep. Her dreams were filled with blood, death, and violence.

Aedion came into the dream. He was standing in Orynth and he was staring at Aelin.

"You coward," he said, coldly. "You left your people when they needed you. You've just run away from your people."

He turned from her. "You're not my cousin. You're not the princess or future Queen. You're not my friend."

Aedion's POV

"I'm sorry, Aedion, but we can't let you out," the guard said, sadly. "After what happened, we need you to be protected."

"But I feel like a coward. While my Queen's parents were murdered, I was kept here so that I was safe. I left my Queen."

"I'm sorry." He leaned towards Aedion subtly. "I got your note and I brought them for you." He slipped Aedion a book and a small sword. "Don't let them know it was me."

"Of course," Aedion said.

Retreating back into his room, Aedion started reading the book. He copied some movements with the sword.

Looking out of his window, the streets of Orynth were deserted. The remaining civilians were hiding in their houses until the Adarlan guards left. Most people had been taken to Endovier or Calaculla. Aedion hoped that they would remain safe until he could help them.

"Aedion, you can leave now. The Adarlan guards are gone, so it's safe for you to leave now."

Dorian's POV

Dorian sat confused. He already knew the map of Erilea. He was trying to be interested in learning how to rule a kingdom well, but his tutor didn't do a very good job of making it interesting.

"And that's how you make a law," his tutor finished. Dorian shook himself awake slightly, trying to look interested.

"You can take a break now, Dorian, if you want," his tutor said, smiling.

Dorian strolled out to the kennels. His tutor knew of his love of dogs, and she specifically arranged for a room near the kennels.

He picked up a puppy and stroked its fur gently. Chaol said they would be there by today, but there was no sign of his family yet. Dorian still didn't know what had happened to the princess of Terrasen. He hoped that, if dead, she died quickly and painlessly.

Dorian heard the horses before they came in. He ducked down behind a fence, as his father's hunting party returned. Dorian clutched the puppy closer to him as he pressed himself against the fence.

"How are you, Your Highness?" Dorian looked up to see Duke Perrington standing over him. "Enjoying your lessons?"

Dorian nodded, hiding the puppy slightly from the duke. Perrington ruffled his hair before going to join the King.

"Your Majesty," a new guard ran to Dorian's father. "Lord Westfall and his family are here!"

Dorian placed the puppy in the kennels, and he quickly slipped back into the castle. Chaol was finally here! Dorian headed back into his classroom when the guard from earlier burst into the room.

"Your Highness. Lord Westfall and his family have arrived, and you are expected to join your parents to welcome them."

Dorian stood up and followed him, barely able to contain his excitement.

 ***Line break***

Dorian stood slightly in front of his father. The Westfalls were on horseback and they approached the glass castle. Dorian could see the stress lines etched across Lord Westfall and the tired smile from Lady Westfall **(I think she's a Lady, I'm not 100% sure though).**

"Welcome Lord and Lady Westfall. I'm so sorry that you in Anielle feel threatened, but please stay here in Rifthold until the treat has gone." The King said, before he fell into a deep conversation with Chaol's father about politics. Queen Georgina and Lady Westfall cooed over Terrin. Dorian stayed where he was as people left around him, leaving only him and Chaol.

Chaol's POV

Chaol broke out into a grin as he ran towards Dorian. No one else was there to witness the two reuniting. Chaol hugged Dorian tightly.

"I missed having you to talk to," Chaol said quietly, releasing Dorian from his hug.

"Me too," Dorian said. "My father has been pressuring me to learn about ruling a kingdom and politics." The two began to walk back to the castle together. "Want to spar?"

Chaol smiled. "You know I do, but watch out. I've learnt loads of new skills while I was in Anielle."

Dorian smirked. "I'm terrified. Bring it on."

 ***Line break***

"Alright, you did learn new moves. I'm impressed."

Dorian and Chaol sat down and threw their covered swords onto a table.

"Did you want to get some lunch?" Dorian asked.

"Of course," Chaol said as the two headed to the kitchens.

A chef gave both boys a bowlful of roast boar stew. As they ate, both were deep in conversation, however they avoided discussing what happened in Terrasen.

"Dorian?" Queen Georgina's voice rang through the kitchens. "Have you and Chaol been chatting all this time?"

"Yes Mother," Dorian said quietly, avoiding her gaze.

"Well, Chaol, you're looking very well. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Chaol said, politely.

"I just wanted to say, Dorian, that I will not be fulfilling my duties for a few weeks, due to me expecting your sibling."

As the Queen left, Chaol turned back to Dorian. "Do you want a younger brother or sister?"

"A sister," Dorian answered quickly, "I know my parents want another son, but I'd prefer to have a younger sister."

"You'd be a brilliant older brother for her," Chaol added.

"How's being an older brother, anyway?" Dorian asked, smirking slightly.

Chaol hesitated before answering. "I generally try to avoid my little brother. My parents are, well, quite overprotective to put it mildly when it comes to him." Chaol paused again before he added, "I'm glad that I'm an older brother, though, because it means that I can become Captain of the Royal Guard in a few years. Terrin can become Lord of Anielle, and everything will be great."

"You want to be Captain of the Royal Guard?" Dorian asked, a little surprised. Chaol smiled.

"Dorian, you're my best friend. I want to be Captain of the Royal Guard for two reasons. One, because Anielle is dull and I don't want to live there all my life. Two, because being Lord of Anielle will make it much harder to visit you here in Rifthold. If I'm Captain of the Royal guard, I'll be here in Rifthold anyway."

Dorian and Chaol started to leave the kitchens when Dorian added, "You'd be a brilliant Captain of the Royal Guard."

 **Okay, that's it. Dorian and Chaol are (finally) back together. As always, all reviews welcome, and I hope y'all enjoyed it!**


	11. Chapter 11

A World Without You Chapter 11

 **Author's note: Here's the new chapter guys! To make up for the giant wait a few chapters ago, I'm uploading as often as I can. If you guys have any suggestions or requests for things to add, let me know and I'll do my best to add them in (and probably mention you).**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!**

Celaena's POV

"At least you did well to prevent you from using your right hand for a while. Now, you're ending up hitting slightly too far to the right of your target. Aim more to your left." Arobynn said, smiling slightly as Celaena corrected her mistake. "We should face you against a live opponent soon. That'll improve your skills."

Celaena smiled slightly, although her right hand hurt like hell, as she hit the training target every time. Pride swelled in her slightly as she noticed she was naturally finding the correct footing and weight distribution. The sword felt natural in both hands to her now.

"So, what weapon should we move onto next, Celaena?" Arobynn said, smiling slightly at his protégé as he pointed towards a weapon cabinet.

Celaena slowly walked over to the cabinet and looked at each weapon in turn. Swords, whips, staffs, knives, axes, bows, a fan, and even a pickaxe were in the cabinet, displayed neatly. Celaena's eyes lingered on each weapon in turn before settling on a set of throwing knives. She removed them slowly from the cabinet and turned to see Arobynn smirking at her.

"Ben," he called out, "I think Celaena here will make a very good assassin."

 _Assassin._ The word echoed through Celaena's head. What the hell was an assassin? Was that what all this training was for?

"This is how you throw knives. Pull your wrist back and then flick to throw it accurately a short distance." He paused to allow Celaena to try. She completely missed the target on her first two attempts and hit very wide off the mark on her third attempt.

"Don't close one eye. Keep them both open and you'll have better depth perception. Your wrist is twisting slightly to the left, and that's why you're missing the mark. Keep your wrist straight." Arobynn said slowly, adjusting her stance and her grip on the knife. "Now, try it."

Celaena threw the knife again, this time hitting the left of the centre circle of the target. She pulled another from her belt and threw it again, this time hitting the centre of the mark.

"Well done. Now, do it ten times in a row and we'll move on to long distance," Arobynn said, walking away from her and leaving the training room.

 ***Line break***

"Better, Celaena. We'll keep practising your skills, but you do need to gain new ones as well. You can't just rely on swords and knives. Better, Celaena. We'll keep practising your skills, but you do need to gain new ones as well. You can't just rely on swords and knives. What if you're in somewhere like Eyllwe where they use staffs more than steel? Choose another weapon to train with."

Celaena stalked over to the weapons cabinet and chose a bow and arrow. Arobynn smiled and pulled back his own bow string.

Aedion's POV

Aedion rode on horseback towards Rifthold from Orynth. He had to become a leader in the King's army. Even if he was thought of as a traitor, he would do this to help his people. If Aelin was alive, and she thought of him as a traitor for what he'd done, he would still do it.

Slowing his horse down, Aedion entered Perranth. He dismounted and walked his horse through the city in Terrassen. Lady Marion had been with Aelin, so she was most likely dead too. Lord Cal and Elide, however, may have still been alive.

Aedion walked slowly through the deserted streets. Houses were shut up, some burned to the ground, and others were gone completely. Rats scurried through the rubble on the streets, but, other than them, there was no living thing on the streets.

Aedion picked his way through the broken street to the manor house he had visited once before with Aelin. The windows were smashed in and the roof had holes burnt into it. Aedion tied up his horse by the gates and he headed up the front path to the house. He picked his way through the garden to the door.

Pushing it open, Aedion surveyed the damage to the interior of the house. Adarlan soldiers had clearly rampaged through the house and ransacked the place. Furniture was overturned, and items were scattered randomly across the floor. Family portraits were burnt and scratched.

Aedion forced himself to go to the upper part of the house, looking for a sign of Elide and Lord Cal. Entering a room upstairs, he found himself in Elide Lochan's room. Her clothes and books were strewn across the room, but there was no sign of her anywhere.

Moving to the next room, Aedion was frozen with shock. Lord Cal and Lady Marion's room was also ransacked and in disarray, with books and clothing thrown everywhere. But the painting above the bed caught his attention. Written in what Aedion guessed was blood, was the word TRAITOR across Lord Cal's face. His wife's face was smeared with blood, leaving only Elide's face normal in the painting.

Aedion tore his eyes from the painting as he rushed from the house and back out into the city. He untied his horse carefully from the gate and he slowly walked back through Perranth, away from the manor house.

"The Lady was with the Princess, the Lord went to fight, and he left Elide in the care of Vernon, his brother. At least, that's what I've heard, Prince." Aedion whipped around to see a young woman on the street. Her hair, skin, and clothes were dirty. Aedion guessed she was homeless.

"Thank you," Aedion said, reaching into his cloak and handing her a bag of coins, "you should hide somewhere for now, as more guards may turn up. Tell someone, anyone, Prince Aedion orders them to take you in. Hide."

As the woman left quickly, Aedion pulled himself back up onto his horse and he set off once again towards his enemies and towards Rifthold.

Dorian's POV

"Dorian, try to smile more, dear. You look quite upset at the moment, and I don't think your father likes it," Queen Georgina said, subtly to him at breakfast. Dorian immediately plastered a false smile onto his face.

"Sorry, Mother," he said, quietly, "Father said you'd be resting from today until the baby's born."

The queen smiled at him. "That's right, Dorian. I won't see you for a while after today."

Dorian swallowed. "I wish I could stay with you while we're waiting for the baby. Will you let me know as soon as it is born?"

The queen nodded as she slowly stood up. As she was escorted from the room by a guard, Dorian stood up. With a quick nod to his father and the duke, he swiftly left the hall and headed to his room. He had no idea where Chaol was. He wasn't at breakfast and Dorian didn't see Chaol's parents there either.

In his room, Dorian pulled open a book and started reading again. It was the first time in a few months he'd been able to just relax and read in his room. His father and the duke had been adding more lessons for him, and, with Chaol's family's arrival, Dorian barely had a moment to himself.

"Your Highness?" a voice called from his doorway, one that he didn't recognise.

Dorian opened his door to see a guard standing there, the same one who escorted his mother out.

"Her Majesty, the Queen, has called for you. She's had her baby."

Dorian nodded as he headed through the castle to where the healers were. His parents were both there, along with Duke Perrington and guards.

"Dorian," the King said, smiling slightly, "Meet your little brother, Hollin."

 _Brother? Damn it. I really wanted a little sister. I bet these three are all happy, though. They most likely wanted a male heir and a male spare._

Dorian walked slowly towards his baby brother and looked at him. Hollin opened his eyes to reveal large, pale blue eyes, similar to Dorian's. He did look similar to Dorian, but there was something weird about him. He didn't understand it, but something about Hollin made Dorian shudder internally.

"Isn't he gorgeous?" Georgina asked Dorian quietly.

Dorian nodded. "I'm looking forwards to being a big brother."

The Duke smiled proudly as well, as if his wife had given birth to a new baby rather than his cousin's wife.

The King offered Hollin to Dorian, and Dorian slowly took him off his father. Looking at his new, screaming brother, Dorian smiled as he thought of his parents' happiness. He smiled for them and, for the first time since Dorian was about three, they smiled back.

Chaol's POV

The news of the new prince's birth spread like wildfire throughout the kingdom. As Chaol walked through the halls of the castle, all he heard was people discussing the new prince. In the sparring room was no different, although at least the guards practising sparring weren't discussing how cute they thought the baby was.

Chaol picked up a sleek rapier from the weapon cabinet in the sparring room in the castle. He practiced his own offensive skills: feinting, lunging, a remise, attacking, a disengage, a flick, and a beat attack. **(These are all fencing terms; I actually know nothing about sword fighting)**

"Your offensive skills are quite good for a kid," one of the guards called out to Chaol. "How old are you anyway?"

"Eleven." Chaol said, his voice even and level.

"And how's your defence?" The guard asked.

"Defence? I haven't been able to practice defence by myself."

The guard picked up his own sword. "Then let me help you practice. Do you know how to parry?" Chaol nodded. "Well, it's a start." 

***Line break***

"You only need to practice with someone, kid. If you do, you'll be a very strong fighter in the future."

"Why don't you teach him a circle parry? Or a riposte?" A guard called to the one battling Chaol.

"Do you know those moves, kid?" Chaol shook his head. "Well, this is how you do a circle parry."

 **Sorry the Chaol chapter was very short. Also, I'm no expert in weapons and sword fighting, so some of this might be absolute nonsense. I hope y'all liked it, and please review it if you like!**


	12. Chapter 12

A World Without You Chapter 12

 **Author's note: I did get a request last time from Aphrodite-Venus-u.k (thanks for asking!) for more Sam, so there will be more Sam in this chapter. Also, there's a time skip of a couple of weeks again.**

 **I hope you enjoy it!**

Celaena's POV

Sam thrust at her with the sword. Celaena quickly parried it, still using her left hand due to her right hand still being useless. He performed a feint, that Celaena fell for, giving her a blow to her shoulder. Shaking it off slightly, she performed a successful flick, followed by a simple lunge.

"Try something more interesting, Celaena. Sam's clearly winning the battle of strategy, and that's half the battle. Read into what your opponent is doing." Arobynn called, bored, as he leaned against the wall.

Celaena performed a feint, but Sam recognised it immediately. He thrust towards her right, but she parried his blow. Sam feinted this time, and Celaena recognised the move. Reacting quickly, she aimed for his left and used another flick. Sam's small hiss of pain confirmed that she had hit her mark.

"Rest for a few minutes, you two, and then we'll do this again." Arobynn stalked out of the room quickly.

Sam threw the sword onto the ground as he pushed his hair out of his eyes. "How's your hand healing?"

Celaena looked at him with surprise. She hadn't expected him to talk to her; she thought he hated her.

"It…It still hurts a little, but it's not too bad," she said quietly.

"Sorry for hitting your shoulder."

"Sorry for hitting yours."

Sam remained quiet for a bit, idly fingering his sword before he spoke again. "How old are you? I've probably asked you before, but how old are you?"

"Eight." She paused for a moment, looking at him curiously before she asked him "How old are you?"

"Nine." He said. "I've been here for a couple of years, since Mum…" He trailed off, looking at his feet to avoid her eye contact.

"My parents are dead too," Celaena said quietly, "so I understand what you're feeling."

"But was your mother a courtesan?"

"What's a courtesan?" Celaena asked. Never in all her life had she ever heard the words courtesan or assassin until recently.

Sam was silent for a few moments before he forced himself to make eye contact with her. "It's the polite term for a whore. I'm guessing you know what that is."

Celaena nodded. She'd heard it from some of the guards back home in Terrasen.

"My mother wasn't a courtesan," Celaena said quietly. Both of them had sat against a wall. She refused to say anymore.

"You're different to some of the others here, Celaena. Would you like to be my friend?"

"Get up you two, and start again. We're nowhere near done here." Arobynn interrupted from the other side of the room. Sam and Celaena scrambled to their feet and picked up their swords again.

Sam started with a lunge that Celaena parried. They fell into a rhythm of thrusting and parrying. Celaena saw Arobynn's bored expression, and she quickly feinted and caught Sam off guard. She managed to cause him to drop the sword.

"Well done Celaena. Sam, work on reading your opponent's moves. You two, dinner is in the dining hall today. Dress presentably for a change."

Aedion's POV

Aedion rode through the streets of Rifthold. He caught the looks people were giving him. He heard snippets of the whispers from those around him.

There were many immigrants trying to get into Rifthold. Aedion saw some from Eyllwe, Fenharrow, and some people he recognised from Terrasen. The guards were searching each person as they entered the city. Aedion dismounted his horse as a guard approached him.

"Name and where you're from?"

"I'm from Terrasen, that's all you need to know. I'm not looking for citizenship. I'm staying for a few weeks before I leave for Terrasen again.

"That's no good. I need a name."

"I'm most likely the only royal left alive from Terrasen. Although, my crown holds no power anymore, does it? I wish to talk to His Royal Majesty. I want to pledge my allegiance to him and to the Adarlan army. I'm only twelve, but, when I'm older, I'll join his army."

"Proceed then."

Aedion walked his horse through the mass of immigrants into the city. He pushed his way through the busy streets towards an alleyway. Finding it deserted, Aedion walked a little way in before he dropped to his knees and vomited. The words that had come out of his mouth earlier felt like poison, and he felt dirty for pledging his allegiance to the tyrant who had murdered his queen to be.

Aedion shuddered as he forced bile back down his throat. It was for the best. He could destroy the Adarlan army from the inside, even if Aelin would think of him as a traitor.

"Are you alright?" Aedion looked up and saw a concerned young boy looking at him. He had deep brown eyes and chestnut brown hair. He looked to be a similar age to Aelin, Aedion guessed.

"I'm fine," Aedion said quietly, standing up. "A kid like you shouldn't be out here on his own. Perverts and kidnappers could target you."

The kid flushed slightly, but maintained eye contact with Aedion. "You don't look much older than me yourself. Aren't you worried?"

"Not at all." Aedion said simply before he started walking from the alleyway.

"You look just like someone I know," the boy said, looking at Aedion curiously.

"You must be mistaken. I haven't got any siblings, and the rest of my family got killed just over a month ago." Aedion pushed past the boy before he disappeared in the crowd of people.

Dorian's (and Chaol's) POV

Dorian sat on his bed, engrossed in his book, oblivious to his surroundings. Since Hollin's birth a couple of weeks ago, Dorian had spent his time alone in his room reading. Chaol had vanished from the castle, or so it seemed to Dorian, and so Dorian was left alone. Daily, he went to the library to take more books to his room. He could get through two a day if he really put his mind to it, including distractions from his parents, meals, and leaving enough time to sleep. If he was being tutored though, he could only read about half a book at most in the day.

"Knock knock." Dorian looked up, slipping his bookmark into his book. Chaol was standing in his doorway, grinning.

"Hi Chaol. Where've you been for these past few weeks?"

"I was sparring, getting lectures from my father, and generally trying to avoid sickening conversation about the new prince."

Dorian grinned. "Me too. That's why I've hidden up here for as long as I can get away with."

Chaol smirked as he leaned against the doorframe. "Do you want to spar with me? We've got a few hours before dinner."

Dorian put his book onto his desk as he stood up.

 ***Line break***

"And that's how you properly perform a riposte." Chaol said, showing Dorian. Dorian tried to follow Chaol's technique, and he ended up nearly hitting Chaol in the face. Chaol carefully sidestepped out of the way of Dorian's sword.

"That sucked." Dorian said bluntly.

"To put it mildly, yeah it did. Try it more like this." Chaol said, showing Dorian again.

Dorian tried again. Chaol had made sure to stand clear this time.

"At least you didn't nearly kill me. You're going a little to the left though." Chaol said, smirking. "Third time lucky?"

Dorian groaned as he resumed his previous stance. Chaol lunged towards him and Dorian performed his riposte. They looked like dancers moving perfectly together as they continued to fight. Ignoring the guards coming in, the two young boys continued to fight. They dodged the other's own attacks before they retaliated with their own.

As they grew tired, both Dorian and Chaol grew more clumsy and careless. Chaol, being older and having more endurance, noticed first and he took advantage of this. Summoning up what energy he had left, Chaol performed a feint that a tired Dorian fell for. Chaol knocked the sword from Dorian's hand and he knocked him off his feet.

"Let's go and grab something to eat. I'm starving." Chaol said, offering Dorian a hand up. Chaol pulled him to his feet and the two boys set off towards the dining hall together.

 **Sorry guys, I had a really bad writer's block, so I merged Dorian and Chaol because I couldn't write properly. I'm also sorry this chapter is late. I was trying to delay posting it because I was trying to come up with new ideas.**

 **I'm really sorry for this chapter. I didn't want to disappoint by not uploading, but I'm not very happy with it. I'm seriously lacking inspiration at the moment.**


	13. Chapter 13

A World Without You Chapter 13

 **Author's note: Here's the next chapter. Hopefully it will make up for the last chapter. Also, I'm going away from my laptop for a few days on Thursday and so I won't be able to update next week, so I'll try and add the next chapter on Tuesday or Wednesday for you guys. There's another time skip of about a month this time.**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please let me know if you want me to add anything for you or if I've got something wrong because I'm no biology or fighting expert.**

Celaena's POV

Aelin Galathynius, the weak princess who let others die for her, was truly dead. She was replaced now by Celaena Sardothien, who was stronger than the princess.

"Your weapon skills are much better." Arobynn said causally as he leaned against the wall next to Celaena. "But now you need to learn how to get out of any situations regarding the law."

Celaena looked at him, confused. She'd guessed whatever she was doing wasn't exactly legal, but she didn't think she'd have to learn how to get out of any dangerous situations by using a means other than fighting. Arobynn saw her look and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Celaena, what if they chained your hands behind your back and your ankles together? You wouldn't be able to use any weapons with your hands unless you wanted to stab yourself in the back, and you wouldn't be able to use hand to hand combat if you couldn't use your feet. What would you do then?"

Celaena remained silent as she thought. She didn't think it would come down to anything like this when she had accepted his offer over 3 months ago. Still, this was better than begging for food, especially during the immigrant purge. No doubt the King would recognise her and have her killed. With the public thinking her already dead, he'd have the perfect cover.

But what would she do in that situation? Knocking them out somehow and find the key to the chains would be her best option, but she might end up outnumbered and knocked out herself, only to wake up on the butchering block. Her silence caused a small smirk to form on Arobynn's face.

"I thought as much. Luckily, I have the perfect way to teach you."

 ***Short time skip brought to you by Lysandra's beautiful face***

"Now, move your shoulder like this," Arobynn guided Celaena's limbs. She screamed out slightly from the pain. Arobynn smirked again at this.

"You've just dislocated your shoulder. Now you can move your arm out," he continued, guiding her arm through the chains.

"Relocate it by moving it like this." Celaena hissed in pain, controlling her screams. Arobynn repeated this with her other limbs, guiding her through the motions and helping her dislocate and relocate her limbs to escape from the chains.

When she was free, she stood up slowly on shaky legs. Arobynn smiled at her again.

"I won't be there to help you when you do get caught. Tomorrow you'll be trying that on your own without my help."

Aedion's POV

Aedion sighed as he rode slowly from Rifthold. He'd escaped the city early that morning when the King started killing off the immigrants.

Aedion felt sick to his stomach. Again, he'd just abandoned his people when they needed help. Aelin would hate him for what he'd done to her people. Aelin would think of him as nothing but a coward and a traitor. He'd left his people and he planned to join forces with the known enemy of Terrasen. He was a disgrace to his people and his title.

Aedion continued to ride in silence. Although he was a few miles from Rifthold, he could still hear the screams of the helpless people in his ears. Images of families being brutally torn apart flashed across his mind, similar to how they had done after the fall of Terrasen. **(Sorry this bit is so short; I didn't know what else to write.)**

Dorian's POV

The silence of the library engulfed Dorian as he sat reading. His parents were busy planning his tenth birthday celebrations, but Dorian couldn't care less about his birthday. He wanted to spend the day with Chaol playing with the dogs, but his parents would want a big celebration. Due to them constantly plaguing him with questions, especially his mother, Dorian found the silence of the library and the alone time comforting. He could get lost in the literature and he didn't have to worry about Rifthold, Adarlan, or Erilea. He could block out the horrors of the immigrant purge occurring in the city outside and lose himself in tales of adventure.

Monks milled around him quietly, breaking his focus to ask if he needed anything every few minutes. Dorian tired of them. He hated to have his focus broken when he was reading due to someone talking to him. It ruined his immersion and he couldn't truly get lost in the story.

A shadow Dorian recognised fell over him. Dorian looked up slowly to see the Duke standing over him, smiling. The smile caused a shudder to go down Dorian's spine.

"Dorian. Your Mother's been looking for you all morning. She wanted to discuss plans for your birthday celebrations next week."

Dorian nodded and produced his polished, public smile. The Duke left as he gathered up his books. Heading towards the gardens, Dorian saw his mother standing by the roses. She smiled as she saw her older son walking towards her.

"Hello Mother, how are you this morning?" Dorian said, his genuine smile across his face instead of his public smile. Dorian loved his mother as she was more genuinely caring towards him than his father.

"I've been wonderful darling. I was thinking, Dorian, we could have a ball for your birthday."

Dorian's smile wavered slightly to be replaced by his other smile. A ball was one of the worst ideas he could imagine, but he smiled and nodded to keep his mother happy.

"A ball sounds wonderful, Mother."

"I'll start arrangements right away then."

Chaol's POV

Chaol had been avoiding his father since they arrived in Rifthold. He knew that his dad didn't care for the immigrants in the purge occurring in the city beyond the glass walls of the castle, however Chaol did. They too were immigrants, but his father forgot that fact because they were staying in the castle. The way his father disregarded their lives was sickening to Chaol.

"Master Westfall?" a voice cut off Chaol's train of thought. He turned to see a young guard facing him.

"Yes?" Chaol said cautiously. Few people called him Master Westfall; he'd told most people in the castle to call him Chaol by then.

"Your father has sent for you. He wishes to talk to you in the gardens."

Chaol nodded and headed towards the gardens. If he didn't, the guard could be punished and, unlike his father, Chaol cared about people's lives.

In the gardens, Chaol saw his father standing by a fountain. Not too far from him, Chaol saw Dorian and his mother talking. At least he wasn't the only one whose parents wanted to "chat" to them.

"Chaol," the Lord of Anielle said.

"Father," Chaol replied in a bored tone. His father's eyes narrowed and Chaol could tell he'd picked up on how much Chaol didn't want to be there.

"Why have you been avoiding learning your duties as the future Lord of Anielle Chaol? You're eleven, and that means you're old enough to-"

"Father, how many times do I have to say I do not want to be Lord of Anielle? Terrin can be lord instead of me." Chaol said, interrupting his father.

"What are you going to do instead then Chaol?" his father asked, his voice dangerously quiet.

"I've told you, Father. I want to be one of the royal guards here."

His dad rolled his eyes. "You're too young to be considering this sort of thing, Chaol. Sooner or later, you're going to accept your future."

His father stalked off, leaving Chaol in the middle of the gardens alone. Dorian tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Did you get stuck in a conversation with a parent that you'd rather have avoided?" Dorian asked with a slight smile.

Chaol nodded. "And was yours the same conversation they've had about fifty times in the hope that you'll change your mind?" he asked, a grin slipping onto his face too.

Dorian rolled his eyes and nodded. "Politics, duties, birthday, something else blah blah blah. What was yours?"

"Lord of Anielle, too young to want to be a guard, blah blah blah." Chaol paused before adding. "Want to spar again?"

Dorian nodded as they walked into the castle together deep in conversation.

 ***Time skip brought to you by Sam's sword skills (try saying that 5 times fast)***

"You're pretty good, Your Highness." Chaol said, teasing Dorian.

"You're not so bad yourself, Lord Chaol." Dorian said, dodging Chaol's thrust and sticking his tongue out.

The guards training in the sparring room watched the pair, bemused. They moved together as if they had rehearsed their moves prior to coming in. Both could read the situation quickly and reacted accordingly. They acted as though the only thing in the world that mattered was the two of them and their fight. Other worries and thoughts drifted away as if meaningless balloons filled with helium. **(I get that they wouldn't have had balloons back then. I only mention them for the simile).** The focus of the two and the ability to discard other worries impressed the guards.

After a while, Chaol and Dorian shook hands. They put the swords back onto the racks before they walked together towards the dining hall.

 **And that's it! Sorry for the way too short Aedion part; I had another writer's block. I'll try and get the next chapter up by Tuesday, and Wednesday at the latest. If it's not up by then, then I'm very very sorry.**

 **I hope y'all enjoyed it and I'll see you soon x**


	14. Chapter 14

A World Without You Chapter 14

 **Author's note: Here is the next chapter. It's probably not that good because I haven't had as long to edit it as usual. I may be able to write another chapter late on Sunday and so you may (no promises!) get another chapter on Monday. There's also a bit of cute Dorian and Chaol ness in this (I'm putting them together, but it will be a longer POV)**

 **I'm also no expert on biology and sword fighting, so stuff may be wrong.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you guys like it!**

Celaena's POV

"You have two minutes. Go."

Celaena tried to remember how Arobynn had guided her limbs the day before. Pushing her shoulder back, she knew she'd got it right when she felt excruciating pain spread across her shoulder. Her now limp limb could easily be manoeuvred out of the chains. Biting her lip to prevent a scream, she moved her arm back so it felt as normal as possible. Moving her other arm, she repeated it to free her other arm.

"Time's up. You've freed your arms well, but your ankles are still chained up. You've not done too badly for a first time, though. You do have more to learn." Arobynn unlocked her ankles and helped Celaena to a standing position. Checking her shoulders, he smirked. "At least you've managed to relocate your limbs properly. We won't do much more today; I don't want to render your limbs completely useless for a while."

Arobynn stalked away as Ben came up to her. Sam was training his staff skill in the room, ignoring her, Arobynn and Ben completely.

Ben handed her a glass of water "You look like you need this. It looks like Arobynn has been training you quite hard today." He paused as Celaena drank the water quickly. As he took the glass back from her, his face turned grave. "Sam, could you come here?"

When Sam had walked over to them, Ben continued. "Arobynn and I have a job to do. We'll be gone for a few days, so listen to your superiors, train hard, and we'll be back soon."

"Where are you going?" Sam questioned.

"We're just doing a job Sam. You'll understand when you're older."

Sam's eyes narrowed slightly. He nodded and walked back and began training.

Ben turned back to Celaena and raised an eyebrow. "How about we have a fight? I've heard your weapon skills have improved dramatically. You can choose the weapon."

Looking at the weapons in the cabinet, Celaena pulled a sleek rapier from the rack. Seeing her selection, Ben chose a simple iron broadsword **(I got these from Dragon Quest IX, don't judge me).** Ben studied Celaena's stance carefully, noting a slight weakness in the defence on her left.

Celaena studied Ben's stance. As she expected, Ben had no obvious weaknesses in his stance. Celaena's eyes narrowed. She'd have to force him to let his guard down to beat him, but that would use most of her stamina and skill. Not to mention the fact that Ben would know most of her moves, having taught her some himself.

Seeing Celaena was distracted, Ben moved in with a swift lung towards her left side. Celaena noticed and brought her sword up to defend her left. Noting this, Ben moved towards her right, playing offensively towards her open side. Celaena was forced to remain defensive, her plans of wearing him down not looking very successful.

Ben performed a feint, however Celaena noticed. Seizing the opportunity, she thrust towards his left hand, cutting the cuff of the sleeve slightly as he moved. Celaena was then forced back onto the defensive side by Ben. He moved much faster than she did, and it was all she could do to defend herself against his blows.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Sam leaning against a pillar, as Arobynn did, watching the fight. His eyebrows were raised in interest and surprise. Celaena was momentarily distracted by this, giving Ben an opportunity. He knocked the sword from her hand and knocked her down.

"Your skills have improved. It used to take me about a third of the time it did now to knock you down." Ben extended a hand to her and helped her up as he replaced the broadsword and rapier in the cabinet before leaving.

Celaena turned to go when she saw Sam again.

"What's that look for?" she asked coldly.

Sasm's face dropped to neutral again. "I've never seen you fight like that before. It's very unique and elegant, yet somehow violent."

Celaena looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I bet I could beat you in a sword fight, Courtland."

Sam smirked. "You're on, Sardothien."

Aedion's POV

Aedion rode back through Meah towards Orynth. It had been over 3 months since the fateful night in Terrasen and life in Meah seemed to be returning to normal. People milled around the streets, buying wares from the markets. Down the alleyways, courtesans and assassins looking for extra money waited for victims. Thieves lurked near the markets, looking for an opportunity.

"Are you lost, sir?" a small boy came up to Aedion. He knew this trick: one person distracted the victim while the others robbed them.

"I'm fine thanks," Aedion said passively, checking behind him. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw two more young boys behind him. One glare sent them running. Turning back to the other boy, he handed him some silver coins. "If you need money, you should've asked."

Mounting his horse again, Aedion set off through the streets alone. Heading to the edge of the city, he dismounted and entered an inn. **(Sorry this is so short again; I'm struggling to come up with ideas for Aedion at the moment)**

Dorian's and Chaol's POV (it starts Dorian's and then it's both)

"Only one week left before your birthday celebrations, Dorian," his mother said, smiling. "Aren't you excited?"

Dorian plastered his fake smile across his face as he nodded. His mother didn't notice the difference and she turned away from him, cooing over Hollin. Taking that as his cue to leave, Dorian rushed from the hall towards the library again. Being careful so as to not be noticed as he entered, Dorian selected a few books from the shelves, having memorised the locations of his favourite genres. He then found a remote section of the library and sat comfortably with his books. Dorian relaxed as he allowed himself to, once again, be engulfed in the world of fantasy and adventure. Where there was no fighting, no death, no stupid birthday celebrations in the middle of a mass murder scheme. Dorian soon lost himself in the book and he didn't notice the presence next to him.

Chaol sat down next to his friend silently, atlases and books about the history of Erilea stacked high in his arms. He placed them on the table and began to study one. Both boys enjoyed the comfortable silence between them. There was no politics, no duties, no pressures about their futures, and no pretences. All that existed was the two of them and the different worlds their minds occupied: Chaol's occupying the past and Erilea, and Dorian's stuck in a fantasy land.

At some point, with time being ignored and lost by the boys, Dorian shuffled in his seat and leaned his head on Chaol's left shoulder for comfort. Chaol smiled and pulled his friend into a hug. The map before him showed the king's current empire: Adarlan, Eyllwe, Terrasen, and Melisande to name the main ones. **(I don't want to be completely wrong, so I'm sticking with those)** The other side of the page showed Terrasen in much more detail, including all the castles.

Dorian turned the pages of his own book slowly, often rereading sentences to be sure he didn't miss anything important or plot related. Chaol's hand rested just above the edge of the pages, so whenever Dorian turned the page, he tickled Chaol's fingers lightly with it.

"Do you two need anything, Your Highness and Master Westfall?" Dorian nearly fell on top of Chaol with the shock of being brutally pulled from the world of fantasy to the real world with all his problems and duties. The monk who had interrupted them was oblivious to the fact that he had pissed the two boys off. His grin was plastered across his face still, and Chaol narrowed his eyes slightly.

"We're fine, thank you." Dorian said, coolly, in a polished and polite tone.

As the monk scurried off, Dorian looked at Chaol before he picked his book up again. "You didn't need anything, did you?" he asked casually over his shoulder.

Chaol smiled at him. "Only for him to get lost, but you took care of that." Dorian looked back at him and smiled his true smile before he leaned back and became fully engrossed in his book again. Chaol's arm was still over his shoulder and Dorian subconsciously leaned into Chaol.

Looking back at the atlas he was studying, Chaol pushed it away and opened a new book on the family trees and bloodlines in Adarlan nobility. The Havilliard line was the first in the book, and Chaol traced the line from Gavin and Elena down to Dorian and Hollin. Chaol frowned as he tried to remember the bloodline. House Galathynius was linked into House Havilliard through Elena and Brannon, which Chaol chose to ignore at that point. Sighing, he shifted in his seat to reach for another book.

"Are you alright?" Dorian asked as Chaol's movements distracted him again.

"I'm fine. You can go back to reading."

"What are you reading? Is that the House Havilliard bloodline?"

Dorian leaned over Chaol to see the bloodline. "I didn't know how far back this went. Does this mean that I'm related to Gavin Havilliard?"

Chaol grinned. "I guess that explains where your blue eyes come from. It's said that Gavin had striking, sapphire blue eyes too."

Dorian looked up at him, the smile on his face causing the corners of his eyes to crinkle slightly. "I always thought it was something random."

Chaol smiled a little as Dorian leaned back against his arm again. Both settled back into their comfortable silence and continued to escape the real world for a while.

 **That's it, I hope you guys like it, and I'll hopefully have another chapter uploaded on Monday for you.**

 **I have been trying to upload every week, as it's the holidays at the moment, but, in September, I am going to be starting studying for my A-levels, so I'll most likely update every 2 weeks or every month at least. I'll still be writing, unless I say otherwise, but it'll be less often.**

 **If you guys have any requests for other fanfictions, please send me them on here or via my fanfiction oriented blog empire-of-stories on tumblr.**

 **See y'all soon and thanks for reading x**


	15. Chapter 15

A World Without Me Chapter 15

 **Author's note: Sorry I didn't add another chapter on Monday. I got in about 1 am and then I decided to wait until today to add this chapter. There's going to be some cuteness between Sam and Celaena here. I'm going to the Edinburgh Festival on the 14** **th** **, so I'll upload on the 13** **th** **and then another chapter when I get home (I don't actually know when that is!). I'm also starting a longer Attack on Titan/Shingeki No Kyojin fanfiction, but this one will be my main focus.**

 **Now that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy!**

Celaena's POV

Celaena and Sam didn't notice the growing audience as they fought. Both seemed to be able to predict the other's moves, causing them to dodge the attacks aimed at them flawlessly and swiftly before launching their own counter attacks. The trusted members of Arobynn's inner circle had gathered to watch the fight between the two trainees; amusement and curiosity was clear on their faces, even though they tried to act nonchalant. As the men casually tried to continue their conversations, they kept sneaking glances at the fighting duo.

"Ready...Ready to give up…yet Sardothien?" Sam panted out in between deep breaths. His fringe was stuck to his face with sweat and he quickly wiped his forehead with his left arm.

"No… No way Courtland." Celaena said breathlessly. Her hair had begun to pull loose from her braid and her skin was shiny with sweat, like Sam's.

Sam smiled slyly as he feinted, hoping Celaena was tired enough to fall for it. Unfortunately for him, Celaena almost predicted what he was going to do and she avoided falling for his attack.

"You two have been at it for an hour. Take a break," one of the men called. The two kids looked at each other before they both dropped their swords.

"Want to go and grab something to eat?" Sam asked quietly to avoid the men hearing.

"You know it." Celaena said, a smirk on her face.

 ***Time skip to Celaena's birthday for all the characters (May 3** **rd** **, idk how long a time skip. If someone could let me know what day her parents died, that would be very helpful, because Google wasn't helpful.)***

Light streamed through curtains onto Celaena's sleeping face, causing her to awaken. Stretching, Celaena was surprised as to why she hadn't been awoken yet for training. Arobynn usually sent someone at the crack of dawn to bring her down for training, but he hadn't today.

A knock on her door brought her out of her daydream. Celaena slipped out of her bed and checked who it was.

"Happy birthday Celaena," Sam said, a small smile on his face as he handed her a little box. Confused, she opened it to find a small, silver bracelet with a stag charm. Her breath caught in her throat slightly as she thought about Terrasen and all she'd left behind.

"Ben told me it was your birthday and that you were from Terrasen. Arobynn has given you the day off training apparently, so I came here to give you-" Sam was cut off by Celaena embracing him tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered as he cautiously hugged her back. "It's beautiful." She pulled back to remove it from the box. Sam helped her to clasp it around her wrist.

"I should probably go; I don't want to be late for training." Sam said shyly as he quickly left. Celaena smiled as he left.

"Happy birthday Celaena," Arobynn's voice caused her to turn. He smiled at her and handed her a box, similar to the one Sam had given her. She took it and opened it slowly.

A small silver necklace with an emerald lay in the box. Celaena carefully pulled it from the box and clasped it around her neck.

"Thank you Arbobynn."

"Enjoy your day, Celaena."

Aedion's POV

Today Aelin would have turned nine.

Today was his queen's birthday.

 _No._ Aedion thought. _It is her birthday. I refuse to believe she's dead. She's merely waiting in the shadows for the right moment for attack. And once she strikes, the King of Adarlan will be pleading for mercy. And she'll show him the mercy he showed her parents and people._

In Orynth, the people hadn't forgotten about Aelin. Mentions of her name were like whispers, spread by the wind. The people of Terrasen still remembered her and still celebrated her birthday. To them, she was still alive.

 _After all,_ Aedion thought, _no one's found a body yet._

This thought comforted Aedion. Aelin's possible survival gave him hope. It gave him the strength to continue to fight.

The townsfolk of Orynth milled around as they did every year on the Princess' birthday. Although they were celebrating, the atmosphere was much more subdued than it normally was. The princess would run around causing slight havoc every year, wanting to see everything, and it usually resulted in a hunt for her from her parents. The streets weren't the same without her laughter at her misbehaviour, her smiles at all the townsfolk, or her wide eyed curiosity at everything.

Aedion stayed inside. He couldn't stand to see his people's fake smiles. They were still feeling the blow from the King of Adarlan all those months ago and it would be a long time before anyone felt anything that could be classed as normal again. As much as people said they were okay and smiled, Aedion could see through their act. The way the King mercilessly slaughtered the people and their leaders shocked the people. Deep down, each civilian was hiding their anger at being oppressed and being treated like the dirt underneath the King's feet. All were itching for a revolution, and celebrating their princess' didn't help them repress these feelings.

"I promise you Aelin, I will do whatever it takes for your people to be free. If I die for them, I'll do it for them. I swear I'll set them free."

Dorian's POV

Dorian flipped over the page of his book, eagerly feeding his curiosity and imagination with the story. He buried himself in the fictional world again so as to avoid the pain.

Today was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius' birthday.

 _Or, it would be,_ Dorian thought bitterly, _if she hadn't died._

Although all he could remember about her was her blue dress and her threat, Dorian still felt as if he'd lost a dear friend. She was so young and she did nothing wrong.

The people of Terrasen would be mourning her privately, if they could mourn her at all.

 _I doubt Father would let them mourn her. To him, she was just an obstacle that needed eliminating. If anything, he'd want them to celebrate today, as a final spit on her memory._

Dorian forced his mind back to his book, away from thoughts about Aelin. He'd remember her as much as he could, as a shy young girl who was clearly close to her cousin and, although she seemed cold originally, was open hearted and kind enough to offer him her friendship.

Shaking her from his mind, Dorian enveloped his mind once again with fiction again. He slipped again into his comfort world.

Chaol's POV

Chaol walked back to his room. Dorian had hidden himself in the library again, locked in another fantasy world again, so Chaol didn't want to interrupt him. He seemed subdued to Chaol, so he left him alone for the time being. However, being alone meant that Chaol had to try to avoid his father alone, and the best way to do that was to go to his room.

Once in his room, Chaol opened a book on blood lines of Erilea. The Westfall bloodline in the book didn't contain his brother yet, only him. Looking further back, Chaol saw no one too noticeable in his history. The Havilliard bloodline had Gavin and Elena, so Chaol guessed there had to be some dormant magic somewhere in Dorian's blood. Flicking through the book to the Galathynius line, he found that line had Brannon and, more recently, Mab, so the princess most likely had magic too.

 _Maybe that's why she died._ Chaol thought bitterly. _Because she had magic and, being so young, she couldn't control it properly, so the King knew._

Chaol sighed as he turned to other bloodlines. The Rompiers, ending with a girl called Kaltain, had some magic ending a couple of generations back. The girl and the rest of her family may have dormant magic at the most Chaol guessed. The Ytgers in Ellywe didn't appear to have magic. Most lines of nobility didn't appear to have magic anywhere. The main ones who did appear to have magic were the Havilliards, the Rompiers and the Galathyniuses.

 _Maybe Dorian has magic?_ Chaol thought.

Chaol brushed the thought off immediately. Neither the King nor Queen had magic, so it was clearly dormant.

 _The chance of Dorian having magic is low. He's probably safe._ Chaol thought.

 **I'm sorry the Dorian and Chaol parts are so short. I'm finding it really hard to come up with ideas at the moment. Also, I made a mistake in the last chapter with Dorian's birthday (that'll be in the next chapter), so I'm sorry for that.**

 **I'll hopefully have another chapter up next week and thanks for reading. You can follow me on tumblr for updates on when I upload if you want calm-and-confused**


	16. Chapter 16

A World Without You Chapter 16

 **Author's note: Here's the next chapter! There's another time skip to Dorian's birthday (because I don't want this to be 50 chapters long overall). I'm also not including Aedion's POV in this chapter, but he should be back next chapter. There's also going to be a little Kaltian in this chapter as well. I'll upload the next chapter either on Friday or Saturday and then I'll upload a new chapter as soon as I can when I get home.**

 **I know absolutely nothing about poisons, so most of my information is from Google and the books. Please let me know if there are any mistakes in this.**

 **I hope y'all like this!**

Celaena's POV

Despite the rest of Adarlan taking the day off to celebrate the Crown Prince's birthday, Celaena found herself in front of a line of glass vials. Arobynn stood before her. He picked up one of the vials and offered it to Celaena. She took it and gazed at the purple liquid.

"Belladonna," Arobynn said. He gestured to Celaena to open the vial. "It smells very sweet and it causes hallucinations if ingested." She placed the stopper back in the vial before she picked up the one next to it.

"Monkshood. That causes a decrease in heart rate, leading to death if ingested. It tastes very bitter, so you'll be able to tell if someone's slipped it in your drink."

"Hemlock. Causes paralysis of the nervous system, but it smells quite distinctive as well."

"Oleander. Extremely poisonous. It causes abdominal pain, vomiting, visual disturbances and heart malfunction."

"Gloriella. It causes paralysis and it has a distinctive, musky smell."

Arobynn went through countless poisons before he added each one to water and wine, showing Celaena what happened concerning colour changes and odour changes to the liquids. He measured out a lethal dose of each of them so that she could see how poisonous they were compared to each other.

"Any questions?" Arobynn asked finally after showing her all the poisons and how they reacted with other drinks.

Celaena shook her head slowly, comprehending all that she had just learned.

"Good." Arobynn took the lethal amount of hemlock and poured a small amount from it into a glass of water. "Now you need to know exactly what they do, and I've found that this is the best and most effective way of teaching it." He handed her the glass and raised his eyebrows at her confused expression.

"Bottoms up, Celaena."

Celaena slowly drank the water, despite knowing what was in it. A few minutes after she had finished, she felt her extremities begin to go numb. Not long afterwards, she was finding it harder and harder to breathe. **(I haven't been poisoned from hemlock, so I have no actual idea what she'd experience).**

She felt a vial being pressed against her lips and she slowly drank from that too. After what felt like hours to her, she found it easier to breathe again and she began to regain feeling in her arms and legs.

"That was hemlock. Now it's your turn to choose which one you sample." Arobynn said, placing the now empty vial next to those containing the lethal doses of the poisons.

Celaena studied them carefully again. Although she remembered Arobynn telling her it was quite toxic, she picked up the vial of purple liquid.

"Belladonna it is then."

Dorian's POV

Dorian was bored out of his mind. He was seated next to his parents' thrones and he watched the over the top ball his mother had arranged to celebrate his birthday. The room was lavishly decorated and Dorian himself was wearing, though not of his own choosing, an exquisite navy blue suit made from silk. He, however, was not thrilled with this celebration. Dorian would have preferred to be in his room reading, or playing with the dogs in the kennel.

Different nobles came and introduced themselves to the King, Queen and Princes of Adarlan. None of them seemed in the least bit interested in Dorian, though. They were only there for appearances: bowing to his parents, wishing him a happy birthday and making appropriate remarks about Hollin. They then dispersed into the crowd and didn't speak to the Havilliards again that night.

The next group that came up seemed different to Dorian. They were dressed in over the top formal wear, just like all the other noble families here, however the little girl standing with her parents seemed just as uncomfortable as Dorian.

"Your Majesty," the three of them said in chorus and bowed low.

"Welcome back," the king said with a small smile. "I trust everything has been fine for you in Bellhaven?"

The king and the man started conversing about politics while the queen and his wife started fussing over Hollin. The little girl, seeming unsure of what to do, remained where she was, as if waiting for some sort of approval. Sensing her nerves, Dorian pulled himself off the throne and walked towards her.

"Hello," he said smiling. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise at his boldness. "I'm Dorian. Who are you?"

"Kaltain Rompier, Your Highness," Kaltain said quietly, curtseying.

"You don't need to use titles. Please, just call me Dorian."

Kaltain relaxed slightly and she smiled at Dorian. She didn't say anything still.

"So, you're from Bellhaven?"

Kaltain nodded. "The Rompiers have always been from Bellhaven." Kaltain said this almost as if she was reciting something she had learnt when she was much younger.

"Do you have any siblings?" Dorian asked, trying to change subject. Kaltain shook her mass of dark curls.

"I am the sole heir of the Rompier line, so my parents are hoping to marry me off to someone." Dorian nodded, understanding what she was going to have to go through.

"My mother is already selecting those suitable for me to marry," Dorian said, a hint of irritation evident in his voice, "because, as the heir to the throne of Adarlan, I need to marry someone who'll make a good queen."

Kaltain raised an eyebrow. "My parents are insistent that I learn how to behave like a "proper lady" so that I'll be able to get a good enough husband."

The two conversed freely, both beginning to loosen up and relax.

Chaol's POV

Chaol was looking through the ballroom in an attempt to find Dorian. Chaol hadn't seen his friend all day and he needed to wish him a happy birthday.

Chaol finally made his way through the crowd of nobles to the thrones. He spotted Dorian, finally, chatting to a small, dark hair girl with large dark eyes. Chaol sighed as he headed over to them.

"Happy birthday Dorian," Chaol said, startling the girl slightly.

"Thank you Chaol," Dorian spotted the look of confusion in Kaltain's eyes before he continued. "Chaol, this is Kaltain Rompier from Bellhaven. Kaltain, this is Chaol Westfall, next in line to be lord of Anielle." The two shook hands quickly.

"So, Chaol, did the Westfalls come all the way from Anielle because of Dorian's birthday?" Kaltain asked with a small, cheeky smile on her face.

"No." Chaol said, "We came to Rifthold because we were likely to be attacked by the men from the White Fang Mountains. We're staying in the castle."

Kaltian nodded, her face slipping back to a practised neutral. "I see. Do you have any siblings?"

"I have a younger brother named Terrin." Chaol said. "And you?"

Kaltain shook her head.

"Kaltain, how old are you?" Dorian asked her quickly.

"Nine," she said simply and quietly, "and how old are you, Chaol?"

"Twelve." Chaol said quickly.

"Do you have a dream, either of you?" Kaltain asked suddenly, her voice slightly dreamy now. The two boys exchanged confused glances. "My dream is to go to Eyllwe and see Banji one day."

"My dream is to be Captain of the Royal Guard." Chaol said confidently.

Dorian thought before he said "My dream is to be a good king that takes care of his subjects."

Kaltain smiled. "Do you think you can ever make them real?" She paused for a moment before continuing. "I don't. My father would never let me go to Banji by myself."

"I think I can do it if I work hard enough." Chaol said.

"I hope I can do it for Adarlan's sake." Dorian said quietly.

"Kaltain." Her father's voice interrupted their conversation. "Leave the Prince alone. I'm sure he has more people to talk to. I'm sorry Your Highness." Kaltain's father took her hand and guided her away from the boys.

"I do feel sorry for her." Chaol said quietly. "She clearly lives in a very strict household."

"I do too." Dorian said. "Want to go outside?"

Chaol nodded and the two boys left the room and headed into the garden

"Dorian?" Chaol said softly.

"Yes Chaol?"

"Happy birthday."

 **I hope you guys liked it and I'll upload the next chapter either Friday or Saturday xx**


	17. Chapter 17

A World Without You Chapter 17

 **Author's note: Here is the next chapter! I haven't had as much time to check this as I normally do, so it might not be great. I don't know when the next chapter will be uploaded, but I get home on Saturday next week so it should be on Sunday (I'll try my best for you guys). The Aedion section is quite short, so sorry about that.**

 **I'm rereading Queen of Shadows and that inspired the Celaena part of this chapter (who's excited for Empire of Storms?)**

 **I do know much more about dancing than I do about poisons and weapons, but I'm not an expert, so there might be mistakes.**

 **Now that's out of the way, enjoy!**

Celaena's POV

"Your skills are getting better Celaena," Arobynn said as she skilfully escaped from chains, "but we still need to hone your body. I've asked my friend Madame Florine to give you dancing lessons to help your flexibility and your movements. Go and get ready. Wesley will escort you there."

Celaena brushed herself off as she stood up and left for her room to get ready. She swiftly changed into a loose black tunic and loose black pants and headed down the main staircase to see Wesley leaning against the bottom of the staircase, bored.

"Come on then," he said, gesturing her towards the front doors.

*Time skip*

"Stretch, point your toes, extend your leg further, you can stretch it more than that." Madame Florine guided Celaena's limbs carefully as she stretched and moved. "You're not very flexible at the moment, but you do have lots of potential. It's a shame that Arobynn found you first. You would make a lovely dancer."

Celaena rolled her shoulders quickly before she started the dance again. Her limbs stretched into an arabesque and other positions.

"Your limbs are starting to loosen slightly. If we have regular lessons, you'll become much more flexible very quickly."

"How do you play that?" Celaena asked, pointing at the pianoforte in the corner of the room. The grand design and the ivory keys caught her interest.

"It's a lot more complicated than it looks. You should ask Arbobynn if you can have lessons on the piano."

"Celaena. Arobynn's expecting us back. Let's go." Wesley said, boredom evident in his voice.

*Time skip*

Celaena sat in her room in the Keep and gazed out of the window onto the streets of Rifthold. The Prince's birthday celebrations finished a couple of weeks ago, and the streets were back to how they used to be. Merchants from across Erilea sold a variety of items from across the continent. Celaena sighed. The world outside the Keep seemed peaceful.

Celaena opened the door to her rooms after hearing three knocks. Ben was standing outside, holding a piece of chocolate cake on a plate.

"I didn't get a chance to say it, but happy birthday Celaena." He passed her the cake. "Arobynn's been working you hard, I've heard, so I thought you deserved a break and something sweet." He gave her a small smile before he left her.

 _How did he know chocolate cake is my favourite?_ she thought.

Aedion's POV

At twelve years old, Aedion trained hard. Since his Queen's birthday and the Crown Prince's, Aedion had pushed himself to hone his skills to be the best they could be.

 _I need to be the best. I need a title of some kind so that I can get that murdering bastard's attention. Once I have that, I can kill him and set Aelin's country free, ready for her return. He's not mine to kill, but no one would disagree with the fact that bastard needs to die. Aelin will return._

Aedion breathed, calming himself, before he continued practising his fighting with a sword.

"Prince," Aedion looked up from his training, "are you sure this training is necessary?"

"Absolutely." Aedion said. "I need to be form an army for Terrasen. Ready for Aelin when-"

"You do know that Princess Aelin is-"

"My queen is not dead." Aedion snapped fiercely. "She's simply waiting for the best moment to attack the king. She's still alive." The guard opened his mouth but Aedion continued. "No body has been recovered yet, has it? It's been almost six months **(just a guess)** and no body? To me, that proves she's still alive. Until they find a body and I can see that it belongs to my cousin, Aelin Galathynius is still alive. So don't you dare tell me she's dead again unless you have her body, understand?"

The guard simply nodded and left hurriedly. Very few people ever saw Aedion snap, or even on the edge of angry, other than Aelin and his mother, but he had almost lost control of his temper then.

 _I need to control not just my body, but my mind as well. If I show any kind of weakness, the king will exploit it and my plan will fail. I can't let anything weaken my mind or my body. I have to strengthen both._

Aedion forced his mind through the horrors of the past six months repeatedly as he trained his body. The harrowing images of Aelin's parents, her people being dragged to butchering blocks and slave camps, families being torn apart all went through his mind as he dragged them out and forced himself to remember. He refused to let himself forget. He hardened himself emotionally as he built himself up physically.

Dorian's POV

Dorian sat with his tutor again, starring at the map of Erilea.

"This is Terrasen. Capital?"

"Orynth."

"Capital of Eyllwe?"

"Banji."

"Feharrow?"

"Bellhaven."

"You're getting much better at your geography, Dorian," his tutor said, smiling at him. His tutor never called him "Your Highness" or bothered with ridiculous formalities.

 _Thank the gods,_ thought Dorian.

"I know you enjoy reading in your spare time, so I won't bother to test you on that. Besides, if you're anything like me, reading is very personal and private. Anyway, let's move onto your arithmetic, shall we?"

Dorian nodded. He didn't mind arithmetic, geography and history, although little could compare to spending an afternoon sparring with Chaol or reading. At least he could see use in learning to handle numbers, read, and be able to navigate his future kingdom.

"Add this list of numbers up," Dorian's teacher said, reading numbers out for him.

*Time skip*

Dorian was found, once again, in a corner of the library. He was engulfed in another fantasy novel, the young boy finding comfort in the other world.

There were still beheadings occurring through Erilea, although the King did his best to hide them from everyone, including his sons. Private executions still occurred. Those who dared to speak of magic or were thought to possess it were made to "disappear" by the king.

That was why Dorian continued to read, despite the duties he gained with age. He hated the brutality of the world he was brought into, and reading was the most effective method of losing that world that he had discovered.

 _I wonder if I'll ever be able to live in the real world without wanting to leave it. I wonder if I'll be a good king in the future, or if people will be as unhappy as they are now. Will Kaltain ever seen Banji? Will Chaol be the Captian of the Royal Guard when I'm king? What will happen to Hollin when I become King?_

Dorian looked up from his book to survey the library he could see. There were a few guards reading and a few monks shuffling around, returning books and scrolls to their original places.

 _I wonder if anyone else uses books as a way to be free, or if it's just me?_

Chaol's POV

"Chaol," Chaol stopped in his tracks. He had been looking for Dorian, but he hadn't found him. He was going to check the library when he was interrupted.

"Father," Chaol said, turning slowly to face his father.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To find the Crown Prince."

"I thought I told you to leave him alone? He has royal duties, Chaol, and so he doesn't need you constantly bugging him. Leave him be, and attend to your own duties. You're going to have to take on lots of responsibilities when you're Lord of Anielle."

Chaol kept his mouth shut about the last part. He was sick of arguing with his dad about it. He simply nodded and left his father, heading nowhere in particular.

 _Does Dorian only view me as a nuisance? Are we going to drift apart now that he has lots of new duties? Is he going to forget me when he becomes king?_

Chaol didn't realise he'd walked into the royal library when he was lost in thought.

 _Maybe if I read a book it'll settle me. It works for Dorian, after all, and he has all of these extra things to worry about now._

Chaol surveyed the shelves, searching for something, _anything,_ to distract his mind for a short while. Finding what looked to be a simple fantasy book, Chaol made his way towards a table.

"Can I join you?" Chaol asked the person at the table, feeling guilty for distracting them while they were reading and disrupting their personal peace.

"Of course you- oh, Chaol, I didn't think I'd see you today." Dorian's face broke out into a grin when he saw his friend.

"Dorian? I'm sorry; I didn't mean to disturb you."

Dorian titled his head to the side slightly, confused. "Chaol, is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong Dorian. I just don't want to distract you from your duties." Chaol said, avoiding Dorian's eye contact.

"Chaol. Look at me." Chaol slowly looked up, his brown eyes meeting Dorian's sapphire blue ones. "You will never be a distraction to me. You are my best friend and no amount of duties and stupid titles will change that. I promise you, no matter what happens, I'll always be right beside you."

Chaol and Dorian remained silent for a moment, just looking at each other before Chaol broke the silence.

"I know. I'm sorry, I just-"

"I know. Come on, let's go and spar."

 **It's done, and it's short and I'm sorry but I am very tired and I still haven't packed yet.**

 **The next chapter should be better.**

 **I'll see you guys next Sunday x**


	18. Chapter 18

A World Without You Chapter 18

 **Author's note: Here's the next chapter! I had a great time in Edinburgh, but it's always nice to be able to just write at home. The next chapter should be up on Sunday as normal. There's a time skip of a couple of months again because there are some parts I want to include in the Aedion section. There's also some swearing in this (it's not that bad) and some blood, so be warned.**

 **Also, I'm really bad at choosing character names, so be warned.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this!**

Celaena's POV

"Your dance lessons are clearly working," Arobynn said to Celaena from across the room as he watched her and Sam spar. Arobynn had reduced how much of Celaena's he did, leaving her more to her own devices and in Ben's hands. He still occasionally observed her skills to make sure they were up to scratch. "You do need a hobby, though."

Ben signalled for Sam and Celaena to stop fighting and Arobynn sauntered over to them.

"You two are getting older, and soon you'll be able to do your own work. Sam, as you're older than Celaena, you need to learn this faster. There's a mental state you have to be in when you're doing your job. You have to remain calm and focused, bottling your anger. Anger makes you reckless and that makes you more likely to get caught."

 _Get caught?_ Celaena thought. _I guessed whatever he was training me for wasn't completely legal, but I didn't think it'd be that bad._

"Ignore the rest of the world and focus on completing the job. When you've done that and got back here safely without being followed, unleash your emotions downstairs. During the job, though, your emotions are nothing. They'll get in the way if anything, so cast them aside." Arobynn paused momentarily. "This is called the killing calm."

 _Killing._ The word echoed through Celaena's head.

 _Blood coated her mother and father's bodies. The Adarlan soldiers flooded through the streets of Orynth and the people of Terrasen's blood coated the ground. Families were torn apart because of the killing and death that occurred because of Adarlan._

 _I can kill._ Celaena thought. _I can destroy those in Adarlan the way they destroyed those in Terrasen. I will make them suffer the way they made the people in Terrasen suffer. I will make those fucking assholes pay for what they did, and I will make them wish they'd never touched anyone from Terrasen._

Celaena nodded along with Sam, a small smirk gracing her face. If Aedion had seen it, he would have been scared shitless.

 _What Aedion thinks of me is irrelevant. As far as he knows, I'm dead. I won't hurt him though. I'll never hurt anyone from Terrasen. I'm not Aelin anymore. Aedion is therefore not related to me and what I do and whoever I kill will not affect him in anyway._

 _My heart belongs only to Terrasen, but I'm not worthy to rule as Queen. I can still avenge my- no, Aelin's- people. I can destroy the lives of those in Adarlan and Rifthold who did nothing when the people of Terrasen were slaughtered._

 _I will survive, no matter what it takes._

In that moment, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius died.

Aedion's POV

Aedion walked slowly through the war camp. He was thirteen, and old enough to be trained officially. He'd been searching for months for a war camp to train in and he was accepted immediately. Training was gruelling, especially because he was a survivor of the assault on Terrasen. Aedion gritted his teeth through the rough training earlier, and he could relax slightly now that he was separate from the Adarlan overseers.

Aedion collected a tray of rations from one of the guards before he sat down, separate from the others in the camp. The others were generally younger than him, and Aedion guessed they hadn't seen half the stuff he had.

"Anyone sitting here?" Aedion looked up to see five young men standing by him. Aedion nodded and they sat at the table: one on either side of him on and three opposite.

"Who are you?" the young man on his right asked him.

"Aedion."

"As in the prince?"

Aedion nodded.

"I'm Jamir." The boy on his right said. "That's Keton on your left, Evander opposite him, Casimir opposite you, and Sholto opposite me."

Aedion shook each of their hands. "How old are all of you, and where are you all from?"

"I'm just thirteen and from Suria," Jamir said quickly.

"Thirteen, from Orynth," Kenton said quietly.

"Twelve, nearly thirteen, from Rosamel," Evander said confidently.

"I'm twelve too, but I'm from Allsbrook," Casimir said in a matter-of-fact way.

"And I'm thirteen. I'm from Perranth." Sholto added.

"So, you're all from Terrasen?" Aedion asked.

"Most people here are from Terrasen or north Adarlan." Jamir answered.

"You five seem to know about me, so I don't really need to introduce myself, do I?" Aedion said, a small grin on his face.

"Not really," Kenton said, smiling, "but why are you here?"

Aedion swallowed his mouthful of baked potato. **(I know nothing about what people would eat in these places; I went for the plainest thing I could think of).** "I…I want to rise through the ranks in the Adarlan army. I want to have some kind of control in my life, since I no longer have a future in the Terrasen court."

The boys sat in silence as they continued to eat the bland meal provided for them by the Adarlan overseers and trainers.

"You're still a prince to the people of Terrasen, Aedion, so we'll back you up," Evander said as they started clearing their trays. "No matter what, we'll have your back if you have ours." He lowered his voice so only Aedion could hear him. "We'll be the bane of the King of Adarlan's existence, but we'll let him believe he has the upper hand for a while. We'll be the knife in his back at the end."

Aedion grinned. "I like the sound of that."

Dorian's POV

"Sparring or reading?" Chaol asked Dorian as they walked through the castle together.

"Your choice," Dorian said with a grin.

Chaol looked out through one of the windows in the corridor. The sky was clear and the gardens were full of colour.

"I think we should read in the garden. It looks really nice outside today."

"Your wish is my command, Lord Westfall," Dorian said, bowing a little.

"After you, Your Highness," Chaol said, teasing Dorian.

The two headed towards the library. On their way, they passed several guards and the King himself.

"Father," Dorian asked, "what is going on?"

"Lord Cal from Perranth has been caught. It's been almost a year since the fall of Terrasen, and he has been fighting and rebelling against us all that time. He's to be named a traitor and executed today." The king paused. "You should witness it ready for when you are king. You can spend time with Lord Westfall's son later."

Dorian glanced at Chaol. Chaol nodded and Dorian turned back to his father.

"Of course Father."

*Time skip*

"Cal Lochan, Lord of Perranth, you have been named a traitor. For your crimes against the crown, you are to be exectuted."

Dorian felt as sick as he did the day Terrasen fell. Lord Cal looked dreadful: his hair was matted and long, and he looked very tired and filthy. His eyes were empty of emotion.

"Do you have any final words, traitor?"

Cal Lochan remained silent. His onyx eyes met Dorian's sapphire blue ones and they said everything he couldn't out loud.

 _I'm sorry._ Dorian thought. _I'm sorry about Perranth. I'm sorry about Terrasen. I'm sorry about Rhoe and Evalin. I'm sorry about Aelin. I'm sorry for the actions of my future kingdom. I'm sorry about your wife. I wish I could have stopped this. I wish I could turn it back to how it used to be. I promise you, here and now, when I ascend to the throne, I'll be better than my father. I promise you, Lord Cal Lochan, that Terrasen's thone will be returned to House Galathynius. I swear that I-_

The blade fell quickly. Cal Lochan's blood spilled across the guillotine and the ground in front of it.

"Let us return to the castle, Dorian," his father said, pulling him out of his trance.

Dorian took one last look at the ex-lord's decapitated body before he was guided by the guards back towards the castle.

Cahol's POV

Dorian returned to the castle, his face pale. He looked as he did the day that Terrasen had fallen.

 _I guess that's understandable, given how he's most likely witnessed another horrific death because of his dad._

"Still want to read?" Chaol asked cautiously.

Dorian nodded. "I need to distract myself from what I just saw."

The two headed towards the library together in silence. They both collect books and left together, going outside into the gardens.

In the middle of August, the flowers in the garden were in full bloom, filling the gardens of the castle with colour. The bright sunlight and long evenings meant that it was still warm outside after dinner. Dorian and Chaol, in the summer, frequently read together in the afternoons and evenings after dinner.

Dorian and Chaol sat down together by the fountain. The sunlight was not too harsh and they both opened up their books. Guards and nobles milled around them, ignoring the two boys. The boys in turn ignored the others, engrossed in their books.

"This book is shit," Dorian said quietly, a third of the way into the book.

"What's wrong with it?" Chaol asked, slipping a bookmark between the pages and turning towards Dorian.

Dorian slid his own bookmark in between the pages. "There's no plot, I hate the main character, and there is too much focus on love in this. Don't get me wrong, a little plot related romance is fine, but it seems the romance is in place of the plot. I, for one, am sick of reading about how warm and soft the girl's lips are."

Chaol raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure?" He took the book from Dorian, and opened it. His eyes scanned the page before they widened and he slammed the book shut. "You're right. I only read one page and I already feel sick."

Dorian chuckled a little, finally relaxing. "What are you reading? Hopefully it's a little more _stimulating_ and interesting than this rubbish."

Chaol smiled as he held up his own book.

"The History of Erilea." Dorian read aloud. He shrugged. "It can't be much worse than this rubbish."

"It's still boring." Chaol muttered.

"Would you rather have boring or disgusting?"

"I'd rather have dinner." Chaol said, standing up. "Hungry?"

"Starving," Dorian said, standing up too, "and I happen to know that some of the guards requested roast boar stew tonight."

Chaol's eyes lit up and Dorian smirked.

"What are we waiting for then?"

 **(Follow me on tumblr for updates about this if you want. My URL has changed to cutie-captain-funsize)**

 **I hope you guys liked it and I'll see you next week xx**


	19. Chapter 19

A World Without You Chapter 19

 **Author's note: Hi guys! The next chapter is here! Next week, I have some friends staying for the weekend, so I'll upload chapter 20 on Friday instead. After that, I'm going back to school, so I'll be back to uploading a chapter every fortnight or every month, depending on the workload.**

 **Anyway, there is another time skip (yay for time skips) to Celaena's next birthday, because I don't want this to be ridiculously long. There is also some swearing, but it's not that bad.**

 **Enjoy!**

Celaena's POV

Celaena threw the knife, almost carelessly now, hitting her mark perfectly. Smirking, she tossed another at the targets on the far wall of the Keep's training area. She hit that one perfectly too.

"Are knives a favourite of yours?" Celaena whipped around to see Sam next to her, testing the weight of the knives in his hands.

"So what if they are? It's much more personal to attack with a knife or dagger than with a sword."

Sam threw his own knife at the target, the blade sinking in right next to hers. "But it's much safer to attack from a long distance, isn't it? With a sword you keep yourself safer, and with a bow you'd be very safe."

"Hence why I like knives. You can attack people personally with them and you can throw them from a long distance to attack safely." She watched as Sam threw another knife at the targets, hitting right next to her knife again.

"Don't let it get to you Sam. You're not that good at knife throwing."

"And you are?"

"Of course I am. After all, who was it that Arobynn named his protégé? You or me?"

Sam's eyes narrowed slightly. She'd hit his sore spot again. "Just because you're his protégé doesn't make you the best, Celaena. Besides, I wouldn't want to be his protégé if it meant sacrificing who I am."

Celaena stepped forwards, her eyes narrowing too. "What the hell do you mean by that? I haven't sacrificed who I am."

 _Does he know who I used to be? Has he found out that Aelin didn't die? Has he guessed that I was her?_

"When you first got here you were shy and a little unsure of yourself. Now, though, you've turned into a swaggering little girl who thinks she's the best even though she's only ten years old."

 _He remembers?_

Seeing her confused expression, Sam handed her a small black box. "Of course I remembered. It is your birthday after all." Sam walked away towards the door. Before he left, he turned back and added, "Arobynn's said that there is to be a grand meal in the banquet hall tonight. He told me to tell you to come and he said he'll have some clothes left in your room for you to wear to it."

As Sam left, Celaena turned back to her knife throwing.

*small time skip to the evening*

Celaena rubbed her skin with the perfume Arobynn had left on her vanity before she turned to her closet. Inside, other than her loose tunics and trousers, was a deep purple dress with long sleeves. Pulling it out, Celaena slipped into it quickly. The material was soft against her skin. Slipping some black flats on, Celaena sat down on her bed and opened the box Sam had given her.

Inside sat a small silver ring with an aquamarine gemstone on it.

Celaena carefully pulled the ring from the box and slipped it onto her right hand before she left her rooms, heading for the banquet hall.

Aedion's POV

"Can they not come up with anything more interesting to serve than potatoes? I am sick of it." Evander sighed as he prodded at the food on his tray with his fork.

"They're one of the easiest things to grow, aren't they?" Kenton said. "That would mean they can easily grow enough to feed everyone here relatively quickly and cheaply."

"I agree that a stew or something every now and again would be nice though." Aedion added, slightly subdued.

The Bane, as their group had been named, had been trying to distract Aedion all day. Everyone from Terrasen knew what today was, and The Bane knew what it meant to Aedion especially.

"I wonder what would happen if someone were to ask the guards for meat of some kind," Casmir mused.

"Want to try and find out?" Sholto asked, a wicked grin on his face.

"Gods no." Casimir said, causing the others to laugh at his reaction.

"Oi you miserable shits," one of the guards shouted over the low hum of chatter, "clear this up and then get back to training. We don't feed you just so you can laze around."

"Why do they feed you then?" Jamir muttered under his breath so that only the rest of The Bane could hear him. They grinned, catching the eye of the overseer.

"What's so funny, Ashryver?" he asked, targeting Aedion. The guards knew what today was too, and what it meant to him.

"Nothing's funny," Aedion said simply. The guard narrowed his eyes before he turned away from Aedion. When the guard turned, he made a vulgar gesture at his back.

"Asshole," Evander said, again under his breath. The Bane's skills had improved, not just in combat but in stealth.

The six of them headed away from the mess hall and out to the training areas. Normally they were given a set rotation of what to train when, but today they were given free reign.

"What are we worst at?" Casimir asked, judging each of the areas in turn.

"Strategy planning," Kenton said, quiet again.

"Boring," Evander said.

"Oh for the love of the gods, just choose something to do and then we'll do it." Casimir said, bored now.

"Why not just swords fight for now, because tomorrow we'll be back on the rotation and so we'll have to work on everything?" Jamir suggested.

"Great idea. Let's do it," Aedion said, cutting the conversation off. The six headed towards the sparring area and each chose a blade. They paired off and began practising.

Dorian's POV

Dorian found himself wandering into the kitchens, his book tucked under his arm. He wanted to read today and he really needed a reading snack.

"Hello Your Highness," one of the kitchen staff spoke brightly, "how can we help you?"

"I was reading and I just needed a snack."

"Any idea what you want?"

Dorian shook his head a little sheepishly.

"I have an idea of what you might like. Please wait for a minute."

Dorian nodded and he sat down next to the fire. When he was younger, his parents could usually find him here asleep when it was cold or raining outside. It was heavily raining today in Rifthold, limiting Dorian's options. He had no lessons today, thank the gods, but he hadn't seen Chaol for a while, so he chose to read today.

"Here you are Your Highness," Dorian looked up and he took the mug **(did they even have mugs when this is set?)** and plate offered to him. He quickly thanked the staff and left for his rooms.

Dorian sipped at the drink. The sweet warm cocoa warmed him up and relaxed him too.

 _Gods,_ Dorian thought, _how long has it been since I've been so relaxed? Too long, that's for sure._

Dorian soon finished the cocoa and he then turned his attention to the plate. A large slab of chocolate hazelnut cake laid there, a fork next to it.

 _Whoever thought to give me cocoa and this cake is a saint,_ Dorian thought as he slowly ate the cake. **(It tastes like Nutella for reference purposes).** With his fork in one hand and book in his other, Dorian relaxed and lost himself within his book. The only sounds in his rooms were his breathing, the rain against the glass of the windows and the turning of the pages in his book. Dorian's rooms became a bubble, protecting him from the outside world again. Nothing could destroy the heaven that was his warm bed, the smell of chocolate and the gentle background sounds.

 _Why aren't there more days like this?_ Dorian thought as he leaned back against his pillows, bringing the book with him. The main characters were approaching their final fight.

 _I should get more cocoa. I'm going to need it if some of them die._

Not wanting to leave his room, Dorian asked one of his guards bring him more warm cocoa and to thank the kitchen staff from him. A couple of minutes later, when the guard brought him the cocoa, Dorian began to read the climax of the book.

 _Thank the Wyrd I got more cocoa._

Chaol's POV

Gods above this was dull.

His father had arranged for a tutor for him, and Chaol was thoroughly bored. He was sick of arithmetic. He wanted to spend the day sparring, but his father appeared to know his plans and so arranged this to ruin them.

"You should try these ones on your own, Master Westfall," his tutor said, her kind smile relaxing him a little.

Chaol added then numbers together carefully.

 _Gods above, even Terrin could do these. What a waste of time. I could be sparring now and working towards what I want to do in the future rather than wasting my time with arithmetic I already know. I wonder what Dorian is doing right now. I hope he hasn't got himself stuck in one of these lessons._

Chaol stared at the rain out of the window as his tutor continued talking about numbers, finding it much more interesting outside than in there. He could see some citizens of Rifthold rushing between shop awnings, trying to avoid the rain. Street vendors still stood in the downpour, attempting to sell their wares to non-existent customers.

 _I do miss Anielle,_ Chaol thought, _but Rifthold is very beautiful in its own way. Few people are braving the rain, but, most of those who are out there don't look uncomfortable. They look oddly content with it, accepting that they're going to get wet._

 _I miss Anielle, but my home will always be where Dorian is. He's my King and always will be. He, and he alone, is where my allegiance lies._

 **I hope you guys like it, and I'll post the next chapter on Friday for you guys!**


	20. Chapter 20

A World Without You Chapter 20

 **Author's note: Ok, so it turns out my friends aren't coming for the weekend, but a promise is a promise so I'm uploading this chapter today instead of Sunday. I've put Dorian and Chaol together (because it makes more sense to) so I'm making their section a bit longer. I'm going back to school on Monday so there most likely won't be a chapter up next week. I hope you guys have all had a good summer.**

 **I'm pretty bad at describing jewellery, so this is what I mean:** . ?category_id=50

 **Also, do not read the Dorian and Chaol part on an empty stomach as there is a graphic description of a sweet shop.**

 **I hope y'all enjoy!**

Celaena's POV

"Ah, Celaena," Arobynn said as she walked confidently into the banquet hall, seating herself at his right hand, "welcome, and happy birthday my dear." He handed her a small red box.

Celaena opened it carefully, revealing a small flower hair comb made from gold and pearls.

 _This must have cost a fortune. Why buy it for my birthday? It must be because I'm his protégé._

"Thank you Arobynn," Celaena said, sliding it into her long, now dry, blonde hair.

"Gold does suit you, you know." Arobynn said with a smirk as more people filled the remaining seats at the table. "Silver doesn't quite work with you, not like gold does. I see you as a winner, Celaena, not a loser."

"But, second place isn't losing." Celaena said, her head cocked to one side in confusion.

"Second place is just a nice title for the first loser, Celaena. Only coming first really counts in this world. If you settle for anything less than that, you're just losing in life. That's why gold looks good on you Celaena, because you look good as a winner."

Celaena remained silent as the seats filled around them. Her eyes narrowed as she saw Lysandra slide into the seat almost opposite her.

Leaning closer to Arobynn, Celaena said "why's she here?"

Arobynn laughed a little. "She's here because I invited her, and you two need to get along."

Lysandra flashed her a perfectly practiced smile. "Happy birthday Celaena. I'm so sorry I didn't have time to get you anything."

Celaena's eyes narrowed a little more. _Don't give me that. You'd never have got me anything, even if you had all the money in Erilea._

"It's quite alright Lysandra," Celaena said, flashing her own winning smile at Lysandra. From the corner of her eye, Celaena saw Arobynn turning to Clarisse. Seeing his distraction, Celaena dropped her smile and turned away from Lysandra.

"You know, you'd look much prettier if you smiled." Lysandra said quietly to her.

"And you'd look prettier without the tattoo." Celaena said, a little coldly. Lysandra's face dropped.

"Do I look like I wanted this?"

"You seem to enjoy it."

"I'm just trying to make the best of a bad situation. There's no point living a life you can't change unhappily. I'm trying to make this life slightly better for myself."

Celaena scoffed a little. "You can leave at any time, can't you?"

"Not easily without being hunted down for the rest of my life. I have too many debts."

"You're basically my age. What debts can a ten year old have?"

Lysandra looked away from her. "I…I owe Clarisse a lot for the training. You wouldn't understand; I'm sure Arobynn won't make his protégé pay him."

 _I have debts too Lysandra, ones that you wouldn't be able to understand either. I owe people a life debt, and I'll never be able to pay them back._

(Time skip for all the rest of the characters. I just wanted to include a bit of that.)

Aedion's POV

"I'm not joking. It's been months, and we've eaten potatoes for every single meal. If it's potatoes tomorrow, I'll scream." Evander said angrily, slamming his fork down onto his plate.

"You mean you'll sing? Spare us please. My ears won't be able to take it." Sholto teased, grinning.

"Shut it Sholto. Just because you're happy with the same crap every day, doesn't mean the rest of us are, right guys?" Evander turned to the others, hoping for support.

Aedion shrugged. "I don't really care what they're feeding us as long as it's edible and there's enough of it. I'd rather not anger them when they're in charge of feeding us. I wouldn't want to give them a reason to poison me."

"But, Aedion, aren't you planning to overthrow them from the inside? Why don't you speak up now?" Evander continued, lowering his voice. Aedion's eyes narrowed.

"Why not cause trouble, you say? Why not get on their radar now, you say? Because I don't just want to overthrow the king. I want to stab him in the back. I don't just want him to die. I want him to suffer for what he did to them, to our home. I want him to trust me, to respect me, until the right time arises and I can make him suffer and die. The only reason I'm telling you five this is because I trust you. If any of you betray my trust, if any of you try to stab me in the back, then you'll find another knife in your face. For now, to avoid losing his respect, I need to stay under the radar. Only in battles can I excel."

The members of The Bane were speechless. Aedion generally kept his temper fully under control. He had never snapped in front of them before.

"I'm sorry Evander. I didn't mean to snap at you." Aedion said quietly, breaking the silence.

"Hey, it's alright. And we won't stick a knife in your back. We'll be handing them to you so that you can stick them into the bastard's face. If you want to excel in large battles, then we'll train so that we can do that." Evander swallowed before he continued, almost silently. "Aelin is our Queen. The bastard who calls himself king is tricking himself. She's alive and waiting. We'll help you and her for the rest of our lives, Prince Ashryver."

Dorian and Chaol's POV

"No parents, no tutors, no rules, and no duties today. The weather isn't bad and we're not going to be interrupted at any point today. What do you want to do?" Chaol asked as the two sat in Dorian's rooms eating toast. **(Did they even have toast back then?)**

"You know what we haven't done for a while?" Dorian said, swallowing his toast. "We haven't just wandered around Rifthold. It's beginning to warm, so we could spend the day walking through the streets of the city."

Chaol took another bit of his toast. _When did we last go into Rifthold together? It must've been a couple of years back, before Terrasen fell. I miss days like that, where we could just wander around and enjoy each other's company without worrying about ridiculous duties being in the way._ "That sounds great to me. I'm guessing there'll be some guards or something nearby at all times."

Dorian grinned. "I'll ask for Lucan. He's really nice to me, so I'm sure he won't mind getting out of the castle and seeing the city for a while today."

Chaol smiled too as he ate his last bit of toast. "I'll meet you outside the library in about twenty minutes, yeah?"

"See you then."

*Time skip of about an hour*

The flowers of Rifthold were beginning to bloom, filling the city with green and other colours. Streets vendors offered jewellery, food and a variety of other wares. Other people milled around the streets, looking to buy items. Street performers were dotted through the city, hoping to make a little extra money.

Dorian and Chaol walked slowly together through the city, taking in the bright colours around them and the warm atmosphere of the city.

 _It's changed so fast in such a short amount of time. A couple of months ago, people were still being dragged from their homes and magic wielders disappeared frequently. Now, the city looks like it did when Chaol and I last came here together._ Dorian thought as he surveyed the city. _It's not much, sure, but it is home. It may not be perfect, but it's home._

"Did you two have anywhere you wanted to go in particular, or did you just want to wander?" Lucan asked calmly and quietly.

Dorian and Chaol looked at each other. "I didn't have anywhere in mind. Did you?" Chaol asked.

"No. Why don't we go around this block and then maybe go to the docks to look out at the ocean?" Dorian suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Chaol said, looking at Lucan. Lucan smiled and nodded, gesturing for the two to lead the way.

Dorian set off down the wide street and Chaol followed him. The two surveyed the street, pointing out shops to each other. Looking behind them to make sure Lucan still saw where they were, Chaol and Dorian entered a sweet shop.

The smell of melted chocolate filled the small shop. Hundreds of jars of different sweets lined the walls, each filled to different amounts. Bars of chocolate wrapped in shiny paper and a deep purple label **(not in any way similar to Cadbury's)** were stacked on a shelf and boxes of chocolates were neatly wrapped and placed on the right hand side of the counter top.

Dorian breathed in deeply, relaxing into the chocolatey scent. _Gods above,_ he thought, _how long has it been since we came here? I remember coming here with Chaol before. Has it really been years since I was here?_

"Welcome, Your Highness," the old man behind the counter said smiling as he shuffled around to greet the two young boys. "I've got some new candies in from Ellywe today, if you'd like to taste them?"

The two boys nodded, and the man brought them a tray of different sweets to taste. Trying each one, Dorian bought two pounds of candy and a bar of chocolate while Chaol bought one pound of candy and a bar of chocolate.

"Thank you," Dorian said as they left the shop. "To the docks?"

"To the docks."

 **Woo! I hope you liked it, and I'll have the next chapter up next week x**


	21. Chapter 21

A World Without You Chapter 21

 **Author's note: I'm so sorry for not writing and uploading this chapter sooner. I know it's been about six months since I last updated this (I'm an awful human being and I'm sorry) when I said it would be up in a week. Life got interesting and busy and this ended up getting put on hold. As it is the holidays (have a good time, whatever festival you celebrate), I'll try to update a little bit more. My update schedule may be a bit random, so I'm sorry about that.**

 **Anyway, I hope waiting six months for this was worth it (but it most likely won't be)**

Celaena's POV

"It's about time you did your first job. Consider every offer carefully Celaena, but choose one. When you have completed it, you'll get paid." Arobynn said, smiling at his protégé. Celaena caught Sam's eye across the training hall, a smug grin on her face. He turned his head away in what she guessed was disgust. "My office Celaena, now."

Celaena tossed the knife she was holding casually at the target, hitting it dead on the centre, before she followed her teacher out of the training room. They headed up the main staircase, passing Lysandra (who Celaena pulled a face at) before they turned into his office.

An expensive rug was laid across the floor. Classy paintings hug up on the walls and Arobynn's desk had neatly organised papers on it. Multiple chairs sat around the mahogany desk. Arobynn walked to his table and poured a glass of port.

"What's your poison Celaena?" he asked, a smirk on his face.

"I'm fine thank you Arobynn," she said, eyebrow raised in amusement. He pointed to a chair which she sank into as he slipped into the chair opposite.

"You have three options available for your first try Celaena. Your first option is Lady Bella. Lord Amyntus wants her dead. Second option is Reiner Hoover, a bastard child who a noble, remaining anonymous of course, wants dead. Third option is kill Cal from the markets. The choice is yours."

Arobynn leaned back in his chair and watched as Celaena studied the letters on each of the requests. He could see her considering the payment and how she could pull each request off easiest. She raised her head after considering for twenty minutes. He raised an eyebrow.

"Cal. Tell Mr Winters I'll be accepting his deal and I'll be carrying out his request."

"You have two weeks to complete this Celaena." Arobynn said, standing up. Celaena stood up too. She had work to do.

Only minutes later, Celaena was on a rooftop overlooking the market square of Rifthold. Cal was there like normal, beginning to clear up the stall ready to go home. Celaena followed him on the rooftops like a cat slinking silently across the rooftops. She remained in the shadows as he returned to his family's home. She stayed watching as he went up to his room, mentally noting down the entry points and the best method to use to kill him without arousing suspicion. Looking at the window, she took a mental calculation of how many weapons she could use to slide in with to get the job done, but not arouse suspicion.

It was early in the morning when Celaena finally slipped back into the Guild and almost collapsed into bed.

Aedion's POV

Aedion flopped onto his bed angrily.

 _Those damn overseers. Fire must be their favourite thing to torment me with, since Aelin's nickname is Fireheart._

"Are you alright Aedion?" Kenton asked, sitting next to Aedion and gently resting a hand on his shoulder. "What he did was way out of line."

"Way to state the obvious Kenton," Evander said from his bed. Casmir, Sholto and Jamir looked at Aedion, worried.

"He was though. No one has any right to say those kinds of things, especially not about our Queen."

"Don't you think we should drop the subject?" Casmir interrupted quietly but forcefully. "He's been put through it once. Don't make him have to relive it."

Aedion snarled quietly, silencing the other five boys. He lay still on his side, but he didn't let himself cry. He wouldn't cry over Aelin, because that would mean that the guard had won. The Rifthold guards did it deliberately, Aedion could tell, as a means of slowly breaking him down.

"They won't succeed. Any of them. As soon as we're put into battle, those bastards are going to "accidentally" die." Aedion said quietly, his voice filled with rage. "No one messes with Aelin and gets away with it."

"Damn right." Kenton said quietly. Casmir opened his mouth to talk, but he was interrupted by a guard.

"Alright you lazy good for nothing pigs! We're entering a battle soon, and so I want you lot to properly focus on your training for the next few months. Your lives and the lives of your friends depend on it."

Aedion stood up, shocked. "But, half of us here are under sixteen. Is this even legal?"

"Scared Ashryver?" the guard sneered, looking down his nose at Aedion. Aedion narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Not at all, _sir_." Aedion said coldly. "I just didn't think you'd want to trust a group of fourteen and fifteen year olds to protect Adarlan. I'm sure you'd want to put better trained soldiers on the front lines."

"How else are you meant to learn Ashryver? By hiding back in the shadows all the time? You lot need some proper military action and this is the perfect time for you to get it." Aedion opened his mouth to argue, but the guard continued. "One more damn word Ashryver, and you'll be on half rations for the rest of this month."

As the guard left, Evander spoke up. "Like there's much damn food to begin with."

Dorian's POV

Lesson, food, lessons, rest. Lessons, food, lessons, rest. Lessons, food, lessons, rest.

 _What a boring existence this is."_ Dorian thought as he gazed out of the window, blatantly ignoring his tutor's ramblings on the importance of natural antiseptics like certain mosses. The weather was pleasantly warm, but not sticky and Dorian wished to be outside with Chaol at a time like this.

"Did you understand that Your Highness?" Dorian's tutor spoke in his slow, nasal tone. Dorian nodded, slipping his perfect, royal smile on.

"Yes, thank you."

"You've understood this very well Your Highness. Why don't you have an extra hour to yourself?"

Dorian stood and left quickly after thanking his tutor. What to do with his extra hour?

First, he headed to the library. There, he selected three books he'd been dying to read but hadn't had the time. After carrying them up to his room, Dorian then took the time to just walk around the glass castle. His mother was in the garden, his father and Perrington in a meeting, Chaol was in his own lesson, and so he had time just to himself.

A grin spread across Dorian's face as an idea came into his head. It was a real grin this time, not one of his flawless, polished smiles for public situations.

Dorian rushed quickly down to the kitchens, avoiding any of the staff. There, on the table, sat a freshly baked berry pie.

Dorian's stomach growled. He hadn't eaten anything for hours and the pie smelt amazing. Quickly, Dorian took the pie and carried it up to his room. There, he took out a knife and fork and began to eat it.

Chaol's POV

Chaol had finally escaped his father and his lectures. His mother was less intrusive on his life, with her still needing to take care of Terrin. This gave Chaol some breathing space that afternoon.

Chaol knocked on the door of Dorian's rooms, much to the displeasure of the guards outside it. No reply came, so Chaol called out to Dorian.

"Dorian? Is everything alright in there?"

A groan came from inside. Chaol, taking that to mean Dorian was hurt in some way, entered his rooms. He stopped dead at the sight before him.

Dorian was curled up on his couch, a bowl next to his head and an empty pie dish along with a discarded knife and fork lay on his desk.

"Dorian, what on earth happened?"

"I was hungry," Dorian moaned out, holding his stomach. Chaol smiled a little, causing Dorian to narrow his eyes, "Are you laughing at me in my hour of need Chaol Westfall?"

"Dramatic as ever I see." Chaol added, smirking. "I was just thinking that Miss Rompier, was that her name, wouldn't be so obsessed with you if she saw you like this, would she?"

"Invite Kaltain up if you want. Why don't you just invite my parents and Hollin up so that they can also watch me suffer?" Dorian said, throwing his hand up to his forehead dramatically.

"What did you even eat Dorian?" Chaol asked, laughing properly at his friend's actions.

"There was a fruit pie in the kitchen begging to be eaten."

"So you thought you'd eat the whole thing did you?"

"I was hungry!"

"I can tell," Chaol said smiling. He sat down next to Dorian on the couch and picked up a book from the pile. "Here, let me read to you."

~Time skip~

"Don't they look so cute?" Chaol's mother whispered to the Queen as they saw their sons lying on the couch together.

"Those two will remain firm friends in the future. I guarantee it." Georgiana said, a smile on her face as she pulled a blanket from Dorian's bed and used it to cover both the sleeping boys.

 **That's it guys. I don't know when the next chapter will be up. Have a great new year if it isn't before then!"**


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